AusTraits

Mentha spicata

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Lamiaceae

Taxonomy: Mentha spicata L.

Synonyms: 5 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Mentha spicata L. var. spicata (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Mentha spicata f. A (taxonomic synonym)
  • Mentha spicata f. A (R.Bates 3655) Toelken (taxonomic synonym)
  • Mentha spicata f. B (taxonomic synonym)
  • Mentha spicata f. B (B.Copley 1119) Toelken (taxonomic synonym)
Misapplied names: 2 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Mentha viridis L. (misapplied)
  • Mentha x cordifolia Lej. & Courtois (misapplied)

Distribution (APC): WA (naturalised), SA (naturalised), Qld (naturalised), NSW (naturalised), LHI (naturalised), NI (naturalised), ACT (formerly naturalised), Vic (naturalised), Tas (doubtfully naturalised)

Profiles: APC, Flora of Australia, ALA, iNaturalist, NSW Flora, SA eFlora, Vic Flora, Florabase, ATRP

Traits

Top source datasets: NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (13), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (13), SAH_2014 (5), SAH_2022 (4), SAH_2023 (8), Sjostrom_2006 (2), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (2), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 18 traits from 62 records in 12 datasets.

Traits by category (click to expand). For categorical traits, the values are listed. For numerical traits, the mean and range are shown.

flower morphology
  • sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 1.5 mm (1.5-1.5 mm) [sources: SAH_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): mericarp (3) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_length (numerical): 55 mm (20-90 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2014]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 19.5 mm (1-35 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2014]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): cordate (1); lanceolate (1); narrowly_ovate (1); oblong (3); ovate (3) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_base_shape (categorical): cordate (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): toothed_crenate (2); toothed_serrate (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (3) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): opposite (3) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (3) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
life history
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): herb (5) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • life_history (categorical): perennial (5) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (5) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): erect (1); rhizomatous (4) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2]
  • storage_organ (categorical): rhizome (4) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; WAH_2023_2]
whole plant morphology
  • plant_height (numerical): 1 m (1-1 m) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2014; WAH_2023_2]

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
NHNSW_20231113N. H. of New South Wales. The Plant Information Network System of The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Version 2.0.. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
RBGV_20231113VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
SAH_202388S. H. of South Australia. eFlora of SA, Electronic Flora of South Australia. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/.
SAH_201435J. P. Jessop and H. R. Toelken. Flora of South Australia, 4th edition, 4 vols. Electronic version curated by J. Kellermann, State Herbarium of South Australia.. Government Printer, Adelaide, 1986.
NHNSW_202244N. H. of New South Wales. The Plant Information Network System of The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Version 2.0.. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
RBGV_202244VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
SAH_202244S. H. of South Australia. eFlora of SA, Electronic Flora of South Australia. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/.
WAH_2022_244Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Sjostrom_200622A. Sjöström and C. L. Gross. “Life-history characters and phylogeny are correlated with extinction risk in the Australian angiosperms”. Journal of Biogeography 33.2 (2006), pp. 271-290. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2005.01393.x.
WAH_2023_222Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Wenk_202222E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.