Medicinal Monday Frosted Mint

Mint is such an aromatic herb and, frosted mint also known as poliomitha incana is no exception. This aromatic shrub that is native to the high deserts of the west has a strong mint smell. It is used by Native American communities for medicinal and culinary purposes.

About Frosted Mint

This high desert, semi-desert shrub grows in rounded clumps up to three feet high.  The leaves are simple and narrow with a prominent midvein.  This shrub produces many stems that have a dense covering of short grey hairs, that gives this plant its' name. Whorled tubular clusters of up to six purplish flowers bloom in the summer from May-August. The center of the flower has delicate purple flecks.  It is native to California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Texas. 

Photo credit National Park Service

Medicinal and Culinary Uses
Frosted mint is eaten fresh or dried or used as a flavoring by Native American groups, particularly the Tewa and the Hopi. 

The plant has also been used, primarily by the Comanche. Hopi, Navajo and Tewa externally in the treatment of sores, rheumatism and ear problems.  The Comanche chewed the leaves to sweeten the taste when taking other drugs. The leaves have been used to increase the potency of other medicinal herbs.

Did  You Know...

Other names of this shrub are Hoary Rosemary-mint and Mintbush.

This species was first named Hedeoma incana by John Torrey in 1858.

Asa Gray renamed the plant in 1870 to Poliomintha Incana. Polio is Greek for grey and the name change was due to the thick covering of grey hairs on its stems and the undersides of its' leaves.

The stems on the lower part of this shrub are so dense that they catch blowing sand which stabilizes the soil where they grow.