Types of Mint: Features and Applications

Mint is a fast-growing, aromatic herbaceous plant from the Lamiaceae family, also known as the mint or dead-nettle family. There are hundreds of mint varieties, but around 40 are commonly used. Most of these can be grown in  home gardens or plots, and they require similar growing conditions.

Each mint variety has its own distinct flavor or aroma, though some are nearly indistinguishable. When choosing mint for cultivation, ensure the variety suits both your region’s climate and your intended use, whether for culinary purposes or garden decoration. Below, we explore the main types of mint seeds, complete with their names and descriptions.

Types of mint with photos and names

Peppermint (Mentha × piperita)

Peppermint is a natural hybrid of watermint and spearmint, found in the wild across Europe, North America, and Australia. It is known for its sharp, refreshing taste with a cool, menthol aftertaste, setting it apart from other mint varieties. This flavor is familiar to many from mint candies, desserts, or medicinal products. The plant grows upright, reaching up to 1 meter in height, with strongly aromatic, dark green, serrated, pointed leaves and purple flowers. Its stems are typically red and smooth, though some varieties may have green, slightly fuzzy stems.

Peppermint is an excellent honey plant, producing amber-colored honey with a subtle menthol aroma. Its leaves are used to make essential oils for medicine, perfumery, confectionery, and the liquor industry. Peppermint is also added to various dishes and drinks. Known as a medicinal herb, its extract aids digestion and alleviates symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. When applied to the skin, peppermint-based products can relieve headaches, itching, and muscle pain.

Catmint (Nepeta cataria)

Catmint, or catnip, is an aromatic plant commonly grown in gardens. As its name suggests, its scent attracts cats, often inducing a natural euphoria that leads them to nibble the leaves or roll in the plants. If you’re not a cat enthusiast, avoid planting catmint, as it will draw feline visitors. This perennial has a green root system and upright, fuzzy stems growing 40–100 cm tall. Its triangular-ovate leaves are slightly fuzzy, and its lilac-blue flowers form dense clusters, blooming from June to July.

Catmint can be used fresh, dried, or frozen. Harvest leaves before heavy flowering for best flavor. Add catmint to soups, sauces, and drinks, or brew its leaves and flowers into a tea to calm nerves, ease coughs, relieve nasal congestion, or alleviate menstrual pain.

Sweet mint or round-leaved mint

Sweet mint is a rhizomatous erect plant with rigid stems that grow from 50 to 75 cm tall. The leaves are elongated or ovate, green-gray, 3 to 10 cm long, with slight pubescence. The flowers are purple-white and gathered in raceme-like inflorescences.

The leaves of round-leaved mint have a fruity aroma and flavor and can be used to flavor tea, salads, or as a garnish. Sweet mint is also grown as a medicinal herb or as a groundcover plant.

Corsican Mint (Mentha requienii)

Corsican mint is one of the smallest mint family members, a creeping plant reaching just 3 cm in height. Its round, slightly fuzzy, gray-green leaves, 3–10 cm long, and purplish-white flowers emit a strong aroma that repels vegetable pests. In landscaping, it serves as a fragrant ground cover that releases more scent when stepped on. In cooking, it’s used to decorate desserts and appetizers.

Chocolate Mint (Mentha × piperita ‘Chocolate’)

Chocolate mint, a hybrid of watermint and spearmint, features dark green leaves with a minty-chocolate aroma and flavor. This spreading perennial grows to 50 cm, with tiny pinkish-purple flowers. It propagates via rhizomes, so container growing is recommended to prevent it from overtaking garden beds. Its sharp scent deters many vegetable pests. Rich in essential oils, chocolate mint is used in antibacterial products, aiding digestion and colds. It’s added to chocolates, pastries, ice cream, fruit salads, meat dishes, sauces, and as a garnish.

Spearmint (Mentha spicata)

Spearmint, or curly mint, is a low-growing (0.5–0.9 m) ground cover with a strong aroma. Its fuzzy, crinkled leaves and light green, upright stems distinguish it, with small, pale pink flowers in clusters. Containing aromatic compounds, spearmint is used in medicine and cosmetics. Its menthol flavor enhances spice blends, salads, cold drinks, and vegetable or fruit preserves, as well as calming teas.

Ginger Mint (Mentha × gracilis)

Ginger mint, an artificially bred variety, has fresh leaves with a minty taste and a subtle ginger undertone. This vigorous, rhizomatous perennial, 40–50 cm tall, forms colonies of upright, often reddish stems. Its ovate, slightly wrinkled, dark green leaves with golden-yellow streaks are aromatic. Grown for its decorative, striped foliage, ginger mint is also used as a seasoning for meat, vegetables, and preserves, pairing well with strawberries and melons.

Long-Leaved Mint (Mentha longifolia)

A hardy perennial surviving temperatures down to -23°C, long-leaved mint grows 40–120 cm tall, spreading via long rhizomes. Its large, oblong-elliptical, green or gray-green leaves are slightly fuzzy, and its small, two-lipped flowers form whorls. Used to decorate gardens, it attracts beneficial insects while repelling pests, including rats and mice. It’s used fresh or dried as a seasoning and flavoring for teas and dishes.

Japanese Mint (Mentha arvensis var. piperascens)

Native to two Japanese islands, Japanese mint grows in marshy or wet forests. This upright or creeping plant, up to 40 cm tall, has small, dark green leaves and white or pale lilac flowers in clusters. Its oil is used in toothpaste, mouthwash, soaps, and lotions, and it helps with digestive issues, headaches, and stress. Fresh or dried leaves season meat, vegetables, sauces, soups, drinks, and desserts.

Apple Mint (also known as Golden Mint)

Apple mint is a hybrid variety developed by crossing spearmint and round-leaved mint. The plant forms compact bushes up to 40 cm tall with sturdy, upright stems. The leaves are rounded, velvety, and covered with a faint white coating. The flowers are small and come in white or lilac hues. Apple mint can be grown both in the garden and indoors in pots. It has a pleasant menthol aroma with delicate hints of green apple.

Thanks to its aromatic and soothing properties, it helps combat stress and delights any gourmet with its flavor. Due to its extraordinary taste, golden mint is often added to fruit dishes, jellies, teas, kvass, lemonade, and other beverages. It is also used in baking, pickling, and various culinary recipes.

Lemon Mint (Lemon Balm)

Lemon mint, also known as lemon balm, bee balm, or sweet balm, is a herb with a refreshing lemony flavor, true to its name. In the wild, it is native to the Mediterranean region but adapts well to temperate climates and can survive spring frosts once a few leaves have formed.

Lemon balm is a perennial plant growing from 30 to 120 cm tall, with a strongly branched root system and sturdy stems. The bright green, oval leaves are slightly hairy. Flowers are pale lilac or bluish-white.

Lemon mint is rich in macro- and microelements, essential oils, and vitamins. It has a beneficial effect on brain function and is known to relieve migraines. It is often used as a complementary remedy for ulcers, gastritis, and bloating.In cooking, fresh leaves are harvested before flowering. When dried, the herb retains its flavor and is great for enhancing salads, fish and vegetable dishes, and refreshing soups. It also adds a fresh note to tea, compote, and cocktails.

Marsh Mint (Ombalo, Fleabane)

Marsh mint is a flowering perennial from the Lamiaceae family that grows in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Its crushed leaves release a strong, penetrating aroma. It grows 20 to 60 cm tall, with hairy, branching stems. Leaves are bright green, oval-shaped, and elongated. Flowers are pinkish-purple with a white tube and form dense, spherical whorls.

Traditionally, marsh mint was used in folk medicine to relieve menstrual pain or even induce abortion. However, in large quantities, this herb is toxic to the liver and can be lethal, so it is now rarely used in food. Instead, fleabane mint serves as a natural insecticide and repellent, protecting pets and humans from fleas and mosquitoes.

Pineapple Mint

Pineapple mint is named for its sweet pineapple-like aroma and flavor, especially noticeable in young leaves. It’s one of the most visually appealing mint varieties.

The main challenge with pineapple mint is its aggressive spreading. While great as a groundcover, it’s best grown in containers if you want to control its spread.

This variety features beautiful variegated leaves with white edges. The plant grows up to 31 cm tall. In summer, it produces white or pale pink flowers that attract bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. It is commonly used in drinks, as a garnish, or in dishes that pair well with mint.

Fun fact: Pineapple mint can “escape” through drainage holes in pots and even “jump” from one pot to another if placed closely together.

Water Mint

Water mint is a perennial flowering plant from the Lamiaceae family, native to most of Europe, Northwest Africa, and Southwest Asia. It grows along streams, rivers, ponds, ditches, canals, and moist meadows—sometimes even emerging directly from the water.

This rhizomatous herb can grow up to 90 cm tall, with green or purple stems that are slightly hairy. Leaves are lance-oval, 2–6 cm long, and range in color from green to purplish. Tiny pinkish-purple flowers bloom in dense terminal clusters from mid- to late summer.

Water mint is a lovely addition to gardens, valued for both its decorative and medicinal uses. All parts of the plant emit a strong minty fragrance.It is used for herbal teas, and its oil is found in balms for muscle pain and wound disinfectants. Extracts are commonly added to mouthwash, lotions, and other personal care products.

Korean Mint (Agastache, Wrinkled Giant Hyssop)

Korean mint, also known as Agastache rugosa, Tibetan Lophanthus, or wrinkled hyssop, originated in North Asia. It has a delicate scent combining notes of menthol, anise, and oregano.

This perennial shrub can grow up to 100 cm tall. The leaves are elongated, oval, and up to 10 cm long, with serrated edges. The tubular flowers range in color from bluish-purple to white.

Korean mint is grown as a decorative plant, a spice, and a medicinal herb. Fresh or dried leaves enhance the flavor of sauces, teas, baked goods, preserves, and homemade alcoholic drinks.

It has rejuvenating properties and helps normalize blood pressure. Korean mint oil is often included in remedies for inflammation in the respiratory system and blood-purifying medications.

Mint is a valuable addition to any garden, serving as a decorative plant, attracting beneficial insects, and repelling pests. It’s widely used in cooking and folk medicine. This guide to mint varieties will help you choose the perfect type for your needs.