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 right angles to one another), and the stems are often squarish in cross section. The sepals (outer floral whorls) and petals (inner floral whorls) are fused into tubes that usually have four or five lobes, or lips, and are irregular (bilaterally symmetrical). The two, four, or five stamens (male flower parts) are attached to the inside of the corolla tube, which is made up of the fused petals. The ovary (female flower part) is superior—that is, borne above and free from the other flower parts—and has two carpels (ovule-bearing flower parts).

Scientific classification: Mints make up the family Lamiaceae (formerly Labiatae) of the order Lamiales. The well-known mint genus is Mentha. Peppermint is classified as Mentha piperita, spearmint as Mentha spicata, and pennyroyal as Mentha pulegium. Lavender is classified in the genus Lavendula and shellflower in the genus Molucella.

Mustard

Mustard, common name for a large family of pungent-juiced herbs, important for the many food plants and other crops it produces, and for its representative genus. The family contains about 390 genera and 3,000 species. It is cosmopolitan in distribution, with centers of diversity in the Mediterranean region and southwestern and Central Asia, where about two-thirds of the species occur.

Most members of the mustard family are annual or perennial herbs; a few are shrubs or climbers. The flowers are characteristic and distinctive. Four petals are arranged opposite one another in the form of a cross. Six stamens are arranged in pairs. The filaments of the outer pair are short, whereas those of the two inner pairs are longer. The fruit is typically a capsule with two chambers divided by a false septum; at maturity, it splits in two from the bottom. Many variations on this basic fruit type are found in the family, and characteristics of the fruits are heavily used in distinguishing and classifying the various members.

The mustard family contains a great variety of food plants, but they do not form important parts of staple diets. Best known are the salad and vegetable crops, such as cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, broccoli, and kohlrabi, all of which are varieties of the wild cabbage native to coastal Britain and southern Europe. Table mustard is prepared from powdered seeds of two other species, black mustard and white mustard. Black mustard is a shaggy, many-branched plant, growing to about 1 m (about 3 ft) high, with dark-green lyre-shaped and lanceolate leaves, small yellow flowers, and short seedpods pressed against the stems. White mustard is a somewhat smaller plant, with similar leaves, larger flowers, and bristly pods. Another important species, curled mustard or mustard greens, has large cleft leaves and is used as a vegetable. Turnip, radish, cress, and watercress are other vegetable members of this family.

Scientific classification: Mustard is the common name for the family Brassicaceae (formerly Cruciferae) and its representative genus Brassica. Wild cabbage is classified as Brassica oleracea, black mustard as Brassica nigra, and white mustard as Brassica hirta. Curled mustard, or mustard green, is classified as Brassica juncea variety crispifolia.

Poisonous Plants

Top, left to right: star-of-Bethlehem, belladonna, poison ivy, poison oak, bottom: yew, oleander, wisteria, and poison hemlock.



Poisonous Plants, plants containing substances that, taken into the body of humans or animals in small or moderate amounts, provoke a harmful reaction resulting in illness or death. Possibly as many as one out of each 100 species of plants is poisonous, but not all have been recognized as such. Dangerous plants are widely distributed in woods (baneberry) and fields (star-of-Bethlehem), swamps (false hellebore) and dry ranges (scrub oak), roadsides (climbing bittersweet) and parks (kalmia), and may be wild (celandine) or cultivated (wisteria). Many ornamental plants, such as oleander, lily of the valley, and mistletoe, are poisonous.

Botanists have no set rules to determine accurately whether any given plant is poisonous. Toxic species are scattered geographically, in habitat, and in botanical relationship. They contain more than 20 kinds of poisonous principles, primarily alkaloids, glycosides, saponins, resinoids, oxalates, photosensitizing compounds, and mineral compounds such as selenium or nitrates accumulated from the soil. The poisonous compound may be distributed throughout all parts of the plant (poison hemlock), or it may accumulate in one part more than any other, such as the root (water hemlock), berry (daphne), or foliage (wild cherries). A plant may vary in toxicity as it grows, generally becoming more toxic with maturity; certain plants, however, can be highly toxic when young and harmless later (cocklebur).

Some active principles cause skin irritation directly (nettle); others bring about an allergenic reaction (poison ivy). Most poisons, however, must enter the body before they act, and in almost all cases this happens when they are eaten. Usually more than 57 g (2 oz) of the poisonous portion of the plant must be eaten by an average adult before poisoning will result (the amount is proportionately less for children). Some plants, however, are toxic in small amounts; for instance, one or two castor beans, the seeds of the castor-oil plant, may kill a child.

After ingestion, the poison may act immediately on the digestive tract (dumbcane, euphorbia, nightshade), producing severe abdominal pain, vomiting, and possibly internal bleeding, or it may be absorbed into the bloodstream. If so, it passes first to the liver, which may be injured. Oxalates crystallize in the kidneys (rhubarb), rupturing the tubules. Some plants affect the heart (oleander). Small amounts of principles in some of these (digitalis) may be used in medicine. Plants containing alkaloids often produce unpleasant or dangerous reactions in the nervous system. Examples are paralysis (poison hemlock), hallucinations (jimsonweed), or heart block (yew). A few poisons act directly within the cells of the body. The best example is cyanide, released from a glycoside in the plant (wild cherries), which prevents cells of the body from using oxygen. In contrast, unusually high levels of nitrates in plants combine with the hemoglobin of the blood so that it can no longer carry oxygen to the body cells. Some reactions are highly specific. Bracken destroys bone marrow, in which blood cells are formed. Saint John’s wort contains a poison that, when ingested by animals, reacts with sunlight to produce severe sunburn and lesions on exposed skin.

Poisonous plants are too numerous to eradicate, and many are highly prized as houseplants or garden ornamentals. If poisoning is suspected, a physician or the local poison control center should be consulted immediately.

Parsley

Parsley, common name for a large family of herbaceous flowering plants, containing many important foods and flavorings, and for one of its genera. This family of dicots contains about 3,000 species and is nearly cosmopolitan in distribution, although most common in temperate areas. The family is well known for its characteristic inflorescence (flower cluster), called an umbel. The individual pedicels (flower stalks) arise from the same point on the peduncle (one of the inflorescence stalks) and are of such lengths that all the flowers are raised to the same height above their point of common attachment; thus the umbel is flat-topped. The basically five-parted flowers are rather uniform throughout the family. The fruits, however, which develop from the two-parted ovary, which is inferior (borne below and fused to the other flower parts), vary remarkably.

Members of the family have many uses. The carrot and parsnip are important root crops; celery is the petioles (leafstalks) of one species. Parsley, dill, fennel, caraway, anise, and coriander are flavoring herbs. Some species are poisonous (see Poison Hemlock), whereas others are used medicinally and a few are used horticulturally.

Scientific classification: Parsley belongs to the family Apiaceae (formerly Umbelliferae). The parsley genus is Petroselinum. The carrot is classified as Daucus carota, the parsnip as Pastinaca sativa. Celery is classified as Apium graveolens. Parsley is classified as Petroselinum crispum, dill as Anethum graveolens, fennel as Foeniculum vulgare, caraway as Carum carvi, anise as Pimpinella anisum, and coriander as Coriandrum sativum.

Belladonna

Belladonna, also deadly nightshade, common name for an Old World herb, and for a crude drug obtained from the plant. Belladonna is a biennial or annual plant with large simple leaves and bell-shaped flowers. The flower tube is five-pointed, dull purple or red-purple, and surrounded by five green sepals. The fruit is a single green berry that becomes purple to black with maturity.

Belladonna is occasionally grown in gardens in North America but rarely becomes naturalized. It does not normally persist without cultivation. Other members of the nightshade family are sometimes erroneously called belladonna. All parts of the true belladonna are poisonous and narcotic. The leaves and root contain alkaloids; one, atropine, is used to dilate the pupils of the eyes, to facilitate eye examinations and as an antispasmodic in the treatment of asthma. In earlier times in Italy, extracts of belladonna were used by women for the cosmetic value of this dilating effect; such use explains the origin of the common name (Italian, “beautiful woman”).

Scientific classification: Belladonna belongs to the family Solanaceae. It is classified as Atropa belladonna.

Barley

Barley, common name for any of a genus of cereal grass, native to Asia and Ethiopia, and one of the most ancient of cultivated plants (see Grasses). Its cultivation is mentioned in the Bible, and it was grown by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Chinese. It is now the fourth largest grain crop, after wheat, rice, and corn. In the United States and Canada, as well as in the greater portion of Europe, barley is sown in the spring. Along the Mediterranean Sea and in parts of California and Arizona, it is sown in the fall. It is also grown as a winter annual in the southern United States. Drought resistant and hardy, barley can be grown on marginal cropland; salt-resistant strains are being developed to increase its usefulness in coastal regions. Barley germinates at about the same temperature as wheat. The different cultivated varieties of barley belong to three distinct types: two-rowed barley, six-rowed barley, and irregular barley. The varieties grown in the United States are generally of the six-rowed type, in Europe the two-rowed type predominates, and the irregular type is found in Ethiopia. The finest malting varieties are the six-rowed and the two-rowed types.

Barley grain, hay, straw, and several by-products are used for feed. The grain is used for malt beverages and in cooking. Like other cereals, barley contains a large proportion of carbohydrate (67 percent) and protein (12.8 percent).

Scientific classification: Barley belongs to the genus Hordeum, of the family Poaceae (formerly Gramineae). Two-rowed barley is classified as Hordeum distichon, six-rowed barley as Hordeum vulgare, and irregular barley as Hordeum irregulare.

Coffee

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Coffee, common name for any of a genus of trees of the madder family, and also for their seeds (beans) and for the beverage brewed from them. Of the 30 or more species of the genus, only three are important: Arabian, robusta, and Liberian. The shrub or small tree, 4.6 to 6 m (15 to 20 ft) high at maturity, bears shiny green, ovate leaves that persist for three to five years and white, fragrant flowers that bloom for only a few days. During the six or seven months after appearance of the flower, the fruit develops, changing from light green to red and, ultimately, when fully ripe and ready for picking, to deep crimson. The mature fruit, which resembles a cherry, grows in clusters attached to the limb by very short stems, and it usually contains two seeds, or beans, surrounded by a sweet pulp.

CHARACTERISTICS

Coffee contains a complex mixture of chemical components of the bean, some of which are not affected by roasting. Other compounds, particularly those related to the aroma, are produced by partial destruction of the green bean during roasting. Chemicals extracted by hot water are classified as nonvolatile taste components and volatile aroma components. Important nonvolatiles are caffeine, trigonelline, chlorogenic acid, phenolic acids, amino acids, carbohydrates, and minerals. Important volatiles are organic acids, aldehydes, ketones, esters, amines, and mercaptans. The principal physiological effects of coffee are due to caffeine, an alkaloid that acts as a mild stimulant. In recent years controversy arose over the possibly harmful effects of coffee beyond those recognized for people who should take few or no stimulants, and the dangers of caffeine for the fetuses of pregnant women. These debated studies were not substantiated, however.

A. Soluble Coffee

Soluble or instant coffee is an important production of the United States coffee industry. In its manufacture an extract is prepared by mixing coarsely ground and roasted coffee with hot water. The water is evaporated from the extract by various methods, including the use of spray driers or high-vacuum equipment. In freeze-dried coffee the coffee extract is frozen, and the water is removed by sublimation. The product is packed in vacuumized, sealed jars or in cans.

B. Decaffeinated Coffee

Caffeine can be removed from coffee by treating the green beans with chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents. The beans are roasted by ordinary procedures after removal of the solvents. Decaffeinated coffee is used by people hypersensitive to the caffeine present in regular coffee. In the 1980s nonchemical methods of decaffeination became more common.