Description

Spearmint is native to Europe. Since being introduced in the United States, it has become the most important essential oil for the country’s flavors and fragrances industry. Spearmint is also produced in great quantities in China. The origin of the common name “mint” comes from Greek mythology. The naiad Minthe (also Mentha and Mintha) engaged in a passionate, but illicit, affair with Hades, god of the Underworld. Persephone, his lawful wife, punished Minthe by changing her into an insignificant little plant. Hades, to assuage his grief, endowed the plant with a powerful fragrance, one, it is said, that is able to stoke the fires of love.