This species has been commonly cultivated for its medicinal properties and as a kitchen herb; of recent years it has been cultivated on a commercial scale for its volatile oil which is now extensively used as a flavoring agent. This species is regarded as of hybrid origin. It does not produce viable seed and is propagated by stolons. For this reason its escape is limited although it has widely escaped, especially in the northern part of the state, where it has been cultivated. It prefers moist situations and is found along fences, roadsides, and streams, and about lakes.

Largely sterile hybrid derivative of nos. 4 [Mentha aquatica L.] and 7 [Mentha spicata L.], much like no. 4, but glabrous; terminal heads averaging somewhat smaller, and accessory heads in the upper axils more often developed; odor lemon-like; 2n=84, 120. European cultigen, occasionally escaped in our range.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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