Family |
Lamiaceae
Mentha longifolia
(L.) L.
Mentha longifolia (L.) L.
(First published in Amoen. Acad., Linnaeus ed. 4: 485; 1759. Treated in Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, p. 193; 1984)
• Life-form & habit: Perennial herb, 60 – 100 cm tall, with creeping rhizome; stems erect, simple or branched towards the top, covered by a short, appressed pubescence.
• Leaves: Shortly petiolate, oblong-lanceolate, 3 – 8 × 1 – 3 cm, rounded or cuneate at the base, acute at apex, margins irregularly dentate, sometimes crisped or undulate; greyish tomentose beneath.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Dense pseudo-verticils forming terminal spikes 4 – 10 cm long, becoming interrupted at the base. Bracts subulate, longer than the flowers. Calyx 2.5 mm, with subulate teeth. Corolla c. 4 mm, 4-lobed, glabrous inside; stamens exserted.
• Fruit: Nutlets smooth, small, ovoid.
• Phenology: Flowers June – October.
• Habitat & elevation: Moist habitats, along streams and irrigation channels, in plains to montane areas.
• Lebanese distribution: Reported from the Beqaa (‘Aïtou, Ta‘naïl, Zahlé), coastal plains, Karadourane, Sannine, and scattered other localities.
• Native range: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Altay, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Central European Russia, Chad, China South-Central, Cyprus, Czechia-Slovakia, East Aegean Islands, East European Russia, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kirgizstan, Kriti, Krym, KwaZulu-Natal, Lebanon-Syria, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, North Caucasus, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, NW. Balkan Peninsula, Pakistan, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Sinai, South European Russia, Spain, Sudan-South Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Tadzhikistan, Tanzania, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, West Himalaya, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Zimbabwe (POWO).
• Introduced into: Guinea, Illinois, Madeira, Maryland, New York, Oman, Sakhalin, Vermont (POWO).
• Conservation notes: Widespread and common in Lebanon, particularly along watercourses. Local threats include water pollution, urban expansion, and drainage of wetlands.
• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: A polymorphic species often confused with M. microphylla C. Koch; Mouterde noted difficulties in delimitation, with forms ranging from glabrescent to strongly tomentose.