Mentha cunninghamii

Mentha cunninghamii, known commonly as New Zealand mint or Maori mint,[3] is a species within the Mentha (mint) genus, endemic to four islands in New Zealand.[4][5]

New Zealand mint, Maori mint

Declining (NZ TCS)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Mentha
Species:
M. cunninghamii
Binomial name
Mentha cunninghamii
Synonyms
  • Mentha consimilis Col.
  • Micromeria cunninghamii Benth.[2]

Name

The plant was named to honor English botanist Allan Cunningham, who was known for his plant collections in Australia and New Zealand.[6] In addition to its English-language names, several Maori language common names for the plant are also attested, including: hīoi,[7] moki and mokimoki.[8][9] The latter is a term also used for the unrelated ferns Microsorum scandens and Doodia caudata.[10]

Description

Mentha cunninghamii shares a mint odor with other species within the Mentha genus, but in appearance is very distinct from many other mints.[6] It is a slender, wiry, prostrate perennial plant, with a creeping rhizome. The plant is much branched, often matted, with numerous stems arising from the rhizome, diffusely branched, pubescent, growing from two to twelve inches long.[11]

Its leaves are shortly petiolate or nearly sessile, 1/6 to 1/2 inches long, broadly ovate or almost orbicular, obtuse, entire or with an obscure notch on each side, and glandular-dotted. Its flowers are small, white, axillary, usually solitary but sometimes with two to three in each axil. Its peduncles are slender and variable in length. Its calyx are about 1/8 inches long, tubular-campanulate in shape, densely hairy, with teeth villous within. Its corolla-lobes are almost equal, flat and spreading, with the upper one shortly bifid. Its stamens protrude equally with the corolla or are slightly exserted.[11]

Distribution
Mentha cunninghamii observed in situ within Waitakere Ecological District, Auckland

Mentha cunninghamii is endemic to the four islands of North Island, South Island, Chatham Island and Stewart Island in New Zealand.[6] It is found sparsely in grassy fields and open land generally.[12][13] It inhabits an elevation range from coastal to alpine, within a range of sea level to 4500 feet.[11] Sources variously describe its flowering season as beginning in the Southern Hemisphere in either September[4] or November,[14] ending in April.[6]

As of 2018, New Zealand's Department of Conservation's New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) assesses Mentha cunninghamii's conservation status as "At Risk: Declining."[1] The system uses the Declining status to indicate populations that currently possess large populations, but are experiencing declines that could eventually lead to a listing as "Threatened."[15]

Use

Mentha cunninghamii has been used by New Zealand's Maori people as a diaphoretic (meant to induce sweating). The leaves are also used for their scent, including in cooking.[3] It is described as easily cultivatable in many gardens.[16]

Notes
  1. "Species Details". NZTCS. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  2. "Mentha cunninghamii Benth". GBIF Secretariat. 2019. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  3. "Mentha cunninghamii. Hioi. New Zealand mint". Māori Plant Use Database. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  4. "Taxon Profile - Mentha cunninghamii". Flora of New Zealand. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  5. "Mentha cunninghamii (Benth.) Benth". The Plant List. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  6. Lange, P.J. "Mentha cunninghamii". New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  7. Cheeseman 1906, p. 1095.
  8. Cheeseman 1906, p. 1101.
  9. "New Zealand mint, Mentha cunninghamii Benth". Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  10. "mokimoki - Māori Dictionary". Māori Dictionary. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
  11. Cheeseman 1906, p. 568.
  12. Allan 1961, p. 962.
  13. "New Zealand mint Mentha cunninghamii". Rare Species. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  14. Webb, Sykes & Garnock-Jones 1988, p. 782.
  15. Townsend, Andrew J.; de Lange, Peter J.; Duffy, Clinton A.J.; Miskelly, Colin M.; Molloy, Janice; Norton, David A. (January 2008). New Zealand Threat Classification System manual (PDF). Wellington, New Zealand: Science & Technical Publishing Department of Conservation. ISBN 9780478143645. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  16. "Mentha cunninghamii". Wai-ora. Retrieved 2021-01-29.

References

 This article incorporates text from Manual of the New Zealand Flora, a publication from 1906, now in the public domain in the United States.

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