Peppermint

Peppermint for Dogs, Cats and Horses

What is Peppermint?

 Peppermint (Mentha × Piperita, also known as Mentha Balsamea Willd) is a hybrid mint, a cross between Watermint and Spearmint. The plant, indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, is now widespread in cultivation in many regions of the world.

It is found wild occasionally with its parent species. It is a herbaceous rhizomatous perennial plant growing to 30–90 cm tall, with smooth stems, and square in cross section. The rhizomes are wide-spreading, fleshy, and bear fibrous roots. The leaves are 4–9 cm long and 1.5–4 cm broad, dark green with reddish veins, and with an acute apex and coarsely toothed margins. The leaves and stems are usually slightly fuzzy. The flowers are purple, 6–8 mm long, with a four-lobed corolla about 5 mm in diameter; they are produced in whorls (verticillasters) around the stem, forming thick, blunt spikes. Flowering is from mid- to late-summer. Peppermint is a fast-growing plant; once it sprouts, it spreads very quickly.

How does it work?

Peppermint can be used for the common cold, cough, inflammation of the mouth and throat, sinus infections, and respiratory complaints. It can also be used for aiding with digestive problems, including heartburn, nausea, vomiting, irritable bowel syndrome, cramps of the upper gastrointestinal tract and bile ducts, upset stomach, diarrhoea, bacterial overgrowth of the small intestine, and gas.