Narrative

Floyd Swink in Plants of the Chicago Region published by the Morton Arboretum states that material found in the Chicago area is subspecies villosa which has been referred now to Mentha canadensis villosa.

This lfieform is found in Europe. This lifeform is widespread in North America. This lifeform is found in Mexico.

Mentha genus (True mints) contains about 25 to 30 species native to both the Old and New World temperate zones including North Africa. Most of the species in this genus exhibit unique smells and tastes that make them useful for a variety of purposes. Spearmint, peppermint, and common mint are three species that are widely planted in gardens. Six species and six hybrids are established per Kartesz in greater North America, which includes United States, Canada, Hawaii, Greenland, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Mint Family (Labiatae = Lamiaceae) contains over 5,000 species of plants of wide distribution. Many of the plants in this family are known for their tastes and smells. Peppermint, Catnip, and Sage are some of the better known species in this family. The square stems of this family are very helpful in field identification. Taking a stem between your fingers, and trying to roll it back and forth can be one of the first tests in trying to identify an unknown plant. As of 1994, there were about 473 species in 70 genera either native to or established in greater North America, including Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Hawaii, and Greenland.

Tubiflora Order of plants is comprised of a large number of families that are characterized by having tube-like flowers. Several of the families have asymmetrical flowers with various lip and lobe configurations, while others have symmetrical flowers. The convention is to refer to the corolla divisions as lips, and to refer to the extensions at the end of the lips as lobes.

Dicots (Dicotyledoneae Class) are the predominant group of vascular plants on earth. With the exception of the grasses (Monocots) and the Conifers (Gymnosperms), most of the larger plants that one encounters are Dicots. Dicots are characterized by having a seed with two outer shell coverings.

Some of the more primitive Dicots are the typical hardwood trees (oaks, birches, hickories, etc). The more advanced Dicots include many of the Composite (Aster) Family flowers like the Dandelion, Aster, Thistles, and Sunflowers. Although many Monocots reach a very high degree of specialization, most botanists feel that the Dicots represent the most advanced group of plants.

Seed plants (Phylum Embryophyta) are generally grouped into one large phylum containing three major classes: the Gymnosperms, the Monocots, and the Dicots. (Some scientists separate the Gymnosperms into a separate phylum and refer to the remaining plants as flowering plants or Angiospermae.)

For North American counts of the number of species in each genus and family, the primary reference has been John T. Kartesz, author of A Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland (1994). The geographical scope of his lists include, as part of greater North America, Hawaii, Alaska, Greenland, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

Kartesz lists 21,757 species of vascular plants comprising the ferns, gymnosperms and flowering plants as being found in greater North America (including Alaska, Hawaii, Greenland, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

There are estimates within the scientific world that about half of the listed North American seed plants were originally native with the balance being comprised of Eurasian and tropical plants that have become established.