Mint
Mint (plant), common name for a family of woody or herbaceous flowering plants of worldwide distribution, and for its well-known genus. Members of the mint family often contain aromatic oils, and many (often of Mediterranean origin) are cultivated as culinary herbs. These include marjoram and oregano, thyme , sage, rosemary , savory, and basil . The mint genus itself contains many well-known cultivated species: peppermint, spearmint, and pennyroyal. These and other members of the family, such as lavender and shellflower, are grown as ornamentals. The family belongs to an order comprising more than 10,000 species, which, although placed in 4 families, are contained primarily in the 3 largest: the mint family, with 5,600 species; the verbena family, with 1,900 species; and the borage family, with 2,500 species. The lennoa family contains only 6 species—fleshy root parasites that lack chlorophyll. The order characteristically has opposite, decussate leaves (pairs of leaves at righ