This "weed" came in with a load of topsoil a few years ago. It smells &
tastes like pennyroyal, I just love the stuff. So much that I brought some
with me when I moved to another state. I've been keeping it in a half-barrel
planter, and every year it seems to get worse. The newer growth doesn't seem
so much affected as the first spring shoots, though.

http://webpages.charter.net/slyrp/Pl...20arvensis.JPG

In article ,
"Nelly Wensdow" wrote:

This "weed" came in with a load of topsoil a few years ago. It smells &
tastes like pennyroyal, I just love the stuff. So much that I brought some
with me when I moved to another state. I've been keeping it in a half-barrel
planter, and every year it seems to get worse. The newer growth doesn't seem
so much affected as the first spring shoots, though.

http://webpages.charter.net/slyrp/Pl...20arvensis.JPG

I'd sterilize and replant in a year. NASTY looking but container
growing really requires a lot of hands on I'd miss this image in my wild
garden. Whew!!!

--
Bill S. Jersey USA zone 5 shade garden
What use one more wake up call?
http://ocg6.marine.usf.edu/~liu/Drif...atest_roms.htm

On 6/10/10 1:38 PM, Nelly Wensdow wrote:
This "weed" came in with a load of topsoil a few years ago. It smells &
tastes like pennyroyal, I just love the stuff. So much that I brought some
with me when I moved to another state. I've been keeping it in a half-barrel
planter, and every year it seems to get worse. The newer growth doesn't seem
so much affected as the first spring shoots, though.

http://webpages.charter.net/slyrp/Pl...20arvensis.JPG




If it is indeed pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium), it requires constant
moisture. It even tolerates wet soil. It needs either full sun or part
shade and occasional feeding.

However, pennyroyal has round leaves. Your photos shows long, pointed
leaves.

Be careful with pennyroyal, both in your garden and in your mouth. All
mints can become very invasive if they escape a container. Pennyroyal
can be toxic if you eat significant amounts, but it's safe in small
amounts (e.g., as a flavoring).

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

In article ,
"David E. Ross" wrote:

On 6/10/10 1:38 PM, Nelly Wensdow wrote:
This "weed" came in with a load of topsoil a few years ago. It smells &
tastes like pennyroyal, I just love the stuff. So much that I brought some
with me when I moved to another state. I've been keeping it in a
half-barrel
planter, and every year it seems to get worse. The newer growth doesn't
seem
so much affected as the first spring shoots, though.

http://webpages.charter.net/slyrp/Pl...20arvensis.JPG




If it is indeed pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium), it requires constant
moisture. It even tolerates wet soil. It needs either full sun or part
shade and occasional feeding.

However, pennyroyal has round leaves. Your photos shows long, pointed
leaves.

Be careful with pennyroyal, both in your garden and in your mouth. All
mints can become very invasive if they escape a container. Pennyroyal
can be toxic if you eat significant amounts, but it's safe in small
amounts (e.g., as a flavoring).

Essential oil of pennyroyal once used to abort children. Still useful
to drive ants out of a home. Smells sweet then cloys . A little goes
a long way.

--
Bill S. Jersey USA zone 5 shade garden
What use one more wake up call?
http://ocg6.marine.usf.edu/~liu/Drif...atest_roms.htm

"Bill who putters" wrote
"David E. Ross" wrote:

If it is indeed pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium), it requires constant
moisture. It even tolerates wet soil. It needs either full sun or part
shade and occasional feeding.

However, pennyroyal has round leaves. Your photos shows long, pointed
leaves.

Be careful with pennyroyal, both in your garden and in your mouth. All
mints can become very invasive if they escape a container. Pennyroyal
can be toxic if you eat significant amounts, but it's safe in small
amounts (e.g., as a flavoring).

Essential oil of pennyroyal once used to abort children. Still useful
to drive ants out of a home. Smells sweet then cloys . A little goes
a long way.

All true. I've grown M. pulegium before, but I think this is arvensis.
Actually its leaf form is more like the American pennyroyal, Hedeoma
pulegioides. But I wonder if the same compound that's bad is also in this,
as well as the American.
Here's what the plant normally looks like, maybe someone can confirm/deny my
ID:
http://webpages.charter.net/slyrp/Pl...20arvensis.JPG

The leaves are I guess at most 25mm long.

On 6/10/10 5:16 PM, Nelly Wensdow wrote:
"Bill who putters" wrote
"David E. Ross" wrote:

If it is indeed pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium), it requires constant
moisture. It even tolerates wet soil. It needs either full sun or part
shade and occasional feeding.

However, pennyroyal has round leaves. Your photos shows long, pointed
leaves.

Be careful with pennyroyal, both in your garden and in your mouth. All
mints can become very invasive if they escape a container. Pennyroyal
can be toxic if you eat significant amounts, but it's safe in small
amounts (e.g., as a flavoring).

Essential oil of pennyroyal once used to abort children. Still useful
to drive ants out of a home. Smells sweet then cloys . A little goes
a long way.

All true. I've grown M. pulegium before, but I think this is arvensis.
Actually its leaf form is more like the American pennyroyal, Hedeoma
pulegioides. But I wonder if the same compound that's bad is also in this,
as well as the American.
Here's what the plant normally looks like, maybe someone can confirm/deny my
ID:
http://webpages.charter.net/slyrp/Pl...20arvensis.JPG

The leaves are I guess at most 25mm long.




It has the square stem and opposing leaves of a mint. However, the
flowers seem to be radially symmetric while mints have flowers that are
only bilaterally symmetric.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

"David E. Ross" wrote
I think this is arvensis.
Actually its leaf form is more like the American pennyroyal, Hedeoma
pulegioides. But I wonder if the same compound that's bad is also in
this,
as well as the American.
Here's what the plant normally looks like, maybe someone can confirm/deny
my
ID:
http://webpages.charter.net/slyrp/Pl...20arvensis.JPG

The leaves are I guess at most 25mm long.


It has the square stem and opposing leaves of a mint. However, the
flowers seem to be radially symmetric while mints have flowers that are
only bilaterally symmetric.

That's the problem with trying to photograph a 1.5mm flower (with a
10-year-old digital camera). With a 16x loupe I saw that the petal markings
are bilaterally symmetrical. A page I found on a similar, if not the same
plant:

http://www.wildflower.org/plants/res...id_plant=mear4
"The 4-lobed and nearly symmetrical clusters of flowers along the stem
distinguish this so-called true mint from many others that have flowers in
slender spikes at the stem tips or in upper axils."