Peppermint (Mentha piperita L.), a perennial of the Lamiaceae family, is a hybrid plant obtained by crossing horse mint with spearmint, itself a hybrid of Mentha rotundijolia and Mentha longifolia. Clones of this hybrid from Great Britain (Mitcham), when transplanted elsewhere, have produced derivatives such as Italo-Mitcham, Franco-Mitcham (violet-black stems and leaves, moderately vigorous, 40 to 60 cm in height, sparse foliage), Milly mint and Maine-et-Loire mint.
In addition, we find Hungarian peppermints (violet-black stems and leaves, strongly vigorous, 100 to 150 cm in height, dense foliage) and white mints (true green stems and leaves, moderately vigorous, 60 to 90 cm in height, dense foliage).
The origins of these plants have been addressed by Murray et al. and by Jolivet. Sacco and Scanneri have studied their chemotaxonomic and karyological features.
