The Mint Chronicles

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THE MINT CHRONICLES

The Anatomy

   The most distinctive anatomical characteristic of plants in the Lamiaceae family is the stem which is noticeably square, in the herbaceous species, and more rounded in the woody species.(Fig.A)

(Fig.A)

   The leaves in this family have a wide range of shapes from lance-shaped (lanceolate) to ovate, and obovate to heart (cordate) or kidney shaped (reniform).(Fig.B)

(Fig.B left to right - ovate, obovate, reniform, and cordate)

    The margins (edges) of the leaves also vary greatly as is illustrated in Fig.B. The margins in Fig.B from left to right are; crenate(scalloped), entire (smooth), deeply crenate, and dentate (toothed).
   The leaves also vary in color and intensity. Some of their leaves are quite glossy and others are very dull. Some species leaves are greener while others have tinges of grays or purples. For general purposes; however, most will fall into three basic categories. These categories are referred to as pale-green, mid-green, and dark-green.(Fig.C)

(Fig.C)

    The leaf and stem surface on a number of species may exhibit fine hairs and can range from lightly hairy, to wooly in appearance. The arrangements of leaves on the stems are generally of two types; opposite, and whorled. In instances where the arrangement is whorled, there will be from 3-10 leaves in the whorl.(Fig.D)

(Fig.D)

    The flowers come in a variety of colors, with the purples or lavenders being the predominant color, and white being the less frequent of all. Many species have solid color blooms and others may have strips of spots. The blooms of this family are unique in that they have an upper and lower lip. These lips can vary between genera and species as to whether the bottom lip is two or three lobed. There are also differences in the lengths of the anthers. Examples of these features can be seen in (Fig.E)

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(Fig.E)

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