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Mentha arvensis L.

Synonym	:	Calamintha arvensis (L.) Garsault
Family	:	Lamiaceae
Local name	:	English- Mint   Malayalam- Pudina
Distribution	:	Native of Europe
Distribution in Kerala	:	Idukki
Habitat	:	Cultivated
Endemic/Exotic	:	Exotic
Uses	:	It is used as a food seasoner, household remedy, and industrial purposes it is traditionally used in hypertension and in patients with ischemic heart disease. Juice of leaves is given in diarrhoea and dysentery. The leaves medicinally used for stomach problems and allergy.
Key botanical characters:    Wild mint is a herbaceous perennial plant generally growing to 10–60 cm (3.9–23.6 in) and rarely up to 100 cm (39 in) tall. It has a creeping rootstock from which grow erect or semi-sprawling squarish stems. The leaves are in opposite pairs, simple, 2–6.5 cm (0.79–2.56 in) long and 1–2 cm (0.39–0.79 in) broad, hairy, and with a coarsely serrated margin. The flowers are pale purple (occasionally white or pink), in whorls on the stem at the bases of the leaves. Each flower is 3 to 4 mm (0.12 to 0.16 in) long and has a five-lobed hairy calyx, a four-lobed corolla with the uppermost lobe larger than the others and four stamens. The fruit is a two-chambered carpel.