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.
growing really requires a lot of hands on I'd miss this image in my wild garden. Whew!!!
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:
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" wrote
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:HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.