Giant Hyssop – Agastache foeniculum

• Part used: Leaf and flower.
  
• Harvesting: Flower before budding, whole stem in early summer.
  
• Habitat: Moist areas.
  
• Physiological action: Anti-spasmodic. Expectorant. Diaphoretic. Nervine.
  
• Chemical Constituents: Volatile oil–camphor. Flavonoids. Glucosides. Tannins. Resin.

Wild Bergamot – Monarda fistulosa

• Part used: Leaf and flower.
  
• Harvesting: Whole stem mid to late summer
  
• Habitat: Dryland areas
  
• Physiological action: Carminative. Rubefacient. Stimulant. Antiseptic.
  
• Chemical Constituents: Volatile oil - thymol. Tannins. Limonenen, carvacrol, cymene.

Mint memories came flooding back as I formulated this article: spying the blue-helmeted flower of skullcap amid long grasses on Grand Manan Island, N.B.; walking through a meadow on Quadra Island, B.C. on a hot spring morning, the heady smell of wild mint rising with the ocean mist; gathering the fresh spring leaves of selfheal in the foothills of Alberta; finding a garden escapee—white horehound—growing wild along a brook in Newfoundland.

The mint family, diverse and plentiful, is found in every corner of Canada and in every habitat. Mints include many cultivated herbs: spearmint, peppermint, basil, rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano, lavender, hyssop, horehound, as well as my favourite—the wild medicines.

Two of the most interesting mints grow profusely here in Saskatchewan—giant hyssop and wild bergamot.

In my first year of exploring Saskatchewan, I was working my way through a wetland area toward a beaver lodge when I realized I must have stepped onto something minty. The odour was overpowering—strongly anise-like. I marked the spot with some flourescent tape to see what would evolve out of the small green sprigs. After a few weeks I went back and found the distinctive purple spikes of the giant hyssop.

Later, in the same year, I was driving on a dusty back road when I saw the ragged blossoms of a wild bergamot colony. I stopped, rubbed one of the leaves and inhaled the pungent lemony-mint odour.

Mints are easily identified as every member has the signature square stem and opposite leaves. Mints have a strong odour, although there are exceptions. All mint flowers have a fused calyx, they are often long and tubular, and usually toothed, as are the leaves.

The name "Mint" comes from the English word "mind." Mentha is from the Greek Mintho, the nymph who was loved by Pluto and transformed into a mint plant by his jealous wife Persephone, Queen of the Underworld. It is said that to ease Mintho’s sorrow, Pluto endowed the nymph-mint with a sweet smell.

Giant Hyssop—It has blue or violet flowers that appear on a spike in July and August. Two pairs of stamens protrude beyond the petals, one pair curving upward, the other downward, crossing each other. It grows to a height of three to five feet.

Harvest the flower before budding after the morning dew has dried. Cut the stem with a sharp implement to avoid pulling the root out of the ground. Hang the stems upside down in bunches in a well-ventilated spot, out of the sun. When dry, cut the flower head off and store in air tight containers. Store the whole stem with leaves intact. When you have used the leaves of one stem, don’t throw it away, as it makes an interesting incense stick.

The tasty and edible flowerhead may be eaten fresh or dried and used as a spice. The leaves make a pleasant but powerful tea that relieves fevers, chills and the nausea of flu. The tea is helpful for arthritic conditions that are exaggerated by damp and cold weather. It has long been used for lung ailments (e.g. bronchitis; asthma). Recent studies show that it has anti-viral and anti-fungal effects.

I have found that the leaves make an excellent poultice for bruising, sprains and burns. The whole plant used as a tea stimulates gastric secretion, increases digestion and relaxes blood capillaries of the pelvic region. However, it is contraindicated in inflamed conditions of the stomach.

Wild Bergamot—The genus Monarda is named after the 16th century plant physician, Nicolas Monardes, from Seville, Spain. Fistulosa refers to the reed or pipe-like stems.

Wild Bergamot is the most abundant of the mints. It is found growing in clearings, thickets and along edges of dry fields. The opposite, lance-shaped leaves are toothed and have a tendency of curving backward toward the ground. The flower heads are terminal clusters of dozens of tiny, rose- to purple-coloured blossoms. Unlike most mints, this plant is very drought-tolerant.

If you crush these flower heads, they have a wonderful smell, not sharp or pepperminty, but rich, lemony and exquisite. After the flowers have died back, a perfectly rounded seedhead appears. If you look closely you will see the little holes in it where the individual flowers once blossomed. Quite often you can still find last year’s seedhead among this year’s blossoms. Keep an eye out for them, they’re worth noting.

The common name bergamot has been bestowed on the Monardas because of their flavour resemblance to Citrus bergamia, a bitter orange tree grown in Italy and Morocco. This tree produces an essential oil used in perfumery and in providing the refreshing, unique flavour to Earl Grey tea. Add some wild bergamot leaves to your regular tea to give it that Earl Grey taste and smell.

Collect the whole stem of this plant in mid or late summer, dry in a shaded, well-ventilated, space. Its volatile oil dissipates readily if dried improperly and the medicines contained in the oil will be lost. This oil’s constituents are citral, menthol, menthone and other aromatics that vary according to the habitat in which the plant grows.

This herb will keep up to three years if it is dried properly and stored as whole leaves in airtight containers out of the light in a cool place.

This plant is very attractive to bees and other pollinators. This natural attribute not only serves a reproductive function but attracts beneficial insects to surrounding plants as well.

In the traditional medicine of the Plains Cree there were many uses for this plant. Chewed leaves were placed in the nostril to relieve a headache. A decoction of the root and flower was administered for worms. A poultice of moistened dry flowers and leaves was used as a dressing for burns. An infusion of flowers and leaves was used as a skin wash, and a steam of the boiled plant was inhaled to treat respiratory problems.

Tea from blossoms was used for eyewash and stomach pains after childbirth. Galls (where insects live on the plant) were mixed with willow bark and made into a tea to help with internal infections. These same galls were dried and strung along with wolf-willow seeds to make attractive jewellery.

Scientific research has confirmed that Wild Bergamot contains up to 20,000 parts per million of a chemical called geraniol which prevents tooth decay. Given this information I would say that it makes sense to make a mouth wash from the leaf of this plant.

"Listerine," a powerful antiseptic mouthwash, has thymol listed as one of its ingredients. This same chemical is found plentifully in Wild Bergamot. You can use a tea of this plant as a gargle for sore throats just as you would use Listerine with the added benefit that it is mildly anesthetic.

There are many more mints growing in Saskatchewan, in all manner of habitats, whether you want to use them for a tasty tea or for their medicinal attributes. Keep your eyes and nose on alert for them this spring and summer.

Note: Randy Doran at Old Fashion Foods says if you are taking homeopathic medicine, be careful not to take any mints (including mint flavoured toothpaste) within a half hour of ingesting the remedy as it will impede its effectiveness.

Root Woman, Kahlee Keane is an eco-herbalist and educator. For more information on her wild plant books, herbal courses and medicine walks call (306) 249-6511; write to #106-201-3120-8th St. E., Saskatoon, S7H OW2; e-mail: rootwoman@sk.sympatico.ca or visit the web: www.connect.to/rootwoman.