Horsemint

Parts Usually Used

Leaves, flowering tops

Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Horsemint is a native strongly aromatic biennial or a short-lived perennial plant 1-4 feet tall; the branched, round four-angled, stem bears opposite, lanceolate, downy leaves dotted with small depressions. The two-lipped flowers, like gaping mouths, are yellowish with red spots and grow in successive axillary whorls subtended by large, white-lilac, lance-shaped bracts around them.

July to October. Other varieties: Oswego tea (M. didyma) and Wild bergamot (M. fistulosa); also called horsemint (M arvensis) which is more common in India.

Where Found

Found mainly in the eastern and central United States. Likes dry places and on sandy soils; on the coastal plain from New Jersey to Florida and Texas, also further west from Michigan and Minnesota south to Missouri.

Medicinal Properties

Cardiac, carminative, diaphoretic, diuretic, sudorific, emmenagogue, aromatic, stomachic, calmative, mild alterative

Biochemical Information

Volatile oil, menthol, menthone, d-iperitone, lemonene, hexenolphenylacetate, ethylamyulacarbinol, neomenthol

Uses

Historically, herbalists prepared horsemint as a tea for flatulent colic, suppressed urine, diarrhea, rheumatism, and stomach complaints such as nausea and vomiting. Traditional accounts also recommended it for persistent nausea accompanied by flatulence, or vomiting associated with exhaustion or alcohol consumption. Various Native American traditions employed the plant for chills, backache, catarrh, and to stimulate the heart.

Topical applications of the leaf oil were traditionally believed to promote perspiration, while oil high in thymol was utilized against intestinal worms. During World War I, horsemint was cultivated in the United States as a commercial substitute for European thyme to produce thymol.

Bibliography

, Loma Linda, CA 92354, Original copyright 1939, revised edition 1994 The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974. Indian Herbalogy of North America , by Alma R. , Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 1973 Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants , by Steven Foster and James A. , Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes.

, 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014, first printed by the United States Government Printing Office, Washington, in 1928, this Dover edition 1974 The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine , by Dr. David Frawley & Dr. Vasant Lad, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Second edition, 1988. An Instant Guide to Medicinal Plants , by Pamela Forey and Ruth Lindsay, Crescent Books (January 27, 1992).

The Magic of Herbs in Daily Living , by Richard Lucas, Parker Publishing Co. (1988).