Mentha Piperita.

Peppermint is found throughout North America as well as England and the Continent. As described by Ray (536), the clergyman botanist, in his Historia Plantarum, 1704, it is called "Mentha palustris—Peper-Mint," and is recommended by him as a remedy for weakness of the stomach and for diarrhea. Its cultivation was extensive in some parts of England as early as 1750, the herb being carried to London for distillation and the making of the oil. Peppermint is a favorite domestic herb used in decoction as a stimulant and also as a flavor. Fresh mint is employed to flavor a popular Kentucky alcoholic beverage made of whisky, known as mint julep. This should be made by inverting in the sweetened diluted whisky a small bunch of young mint sprouts, thus getting the delicate aroma of the leaves, but not the bitterness of the broken stems.

The History of the Vegetable Drugs of the U.S.P., 1911, was written by John Uri Lloyd.