Appearance
It is a very variable herbaceous perennial plant with a peppermint-scented aroma. Like many mints, it has a creeping rhizome, with erect to creeping stems 40–120 cm tall. The leaves are oblong-elliptical to lanceolate, 5–10 cm long and 1.5–3 cm broad, thinly to densely tomentose, green to greyish-green above and white below. The flowers are 3–5 mm long, lilac, purplish, or white, produced in dense clusters on tall, branched, tapering spikes; flowering in mid to late summer. It spreads via rhizomes to form clonal colonies.
Naming
There are seven subspecies:⤷ "Mentha longifolia" subsp. "longifolia", Europe, northwest Africa
⤷ "Mentha longifolia" subsp. "capensis" Briq., southern Africa
⤷ "Mentha longifolia" subsp. "grisella" Briq., southeastern Europe
⤷ "Mentha longifolia" subsp. "noeana" Briq., Turkey east to Iran
⤷ "Mentha longifolia" subsp. "polyadena" Briq., southern Africa
⤷ "Mentha longifolia" subsp. "typhoides" Harley., northeast Africa, southwest Asia
⤷ "Mentha longifolia" subsp. "wissii" Codd., southwestern Africa
It has been widely confused with tomentose variant plants of "Mentha spicata"; it can be distinguished from these by the hairs being simple unbranched, in contrast to the branched hairs of "M. spicata".
Like almost all mints, "Mentha longifolia" can be invasive. Care needs to be taken when planting it in non-controlled areas.
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