Calamintha sylvatica Menthe - Calamint

In the sun, or even in the light shade of the undergrowth, and on dry soil, Calamintha sylvatica 'Menthe' has a captivating fragrance, a mixture of peppermint and lavender. This calamint is a simple little perennial that offers a long summer flowering, in a light and fragrant cloud of small yellow buds that open into very fragrant white flowers. Its small velvety foliage is bright green, and edible. It grows in bushy clumps, in any well-drained soil, in wild areas, even rocky and limestone ones, and proves to be very hardy.

Calamintha sylvatica 'Menthe' is also known as Calamintha menthifolia, Calamintha ascendens, Calamintha baetica, Calamintha officinalis or Clinopodium nepeta subsp. sylvaticum. This little bush is a slow-growing herbaceous plant belonging to the Lamiaceae family. It is a cultivar derived from Calamintha sylvatica, a fairly common plant in clear undergrowth and sunny fallow areas. Its trailing rhizomes produce dense tufted stems that can reach 40 to 50 cm (16 to 20in) in height with a spread of 40 cm (16in). From June until the end of summer, white flowers, measuring 15 to 20 mm (1in) in length, appear in the axils of the upper leaves in small clusters. Bees and butterflies love them. The leaves are deciduous, dark green and velvety, ovate with slightly toothed edges, wavy, and measure 5 cm (2in) in length. All parts of the plant emit an intense, refreshing scent of spicy mint from the essential oils contained in its tissues.

Plant 'Menthe' calamint in well-drained soil, in a position sheltered from scorching sun and strong winds. It will find a place in a bed in front of roses, in difficult slopes alongside Nepeta 'Walker's Low', in a pot alongside Erigeron karvinskianus and Phlox subulata, near a pathway so that it perfumes the air as soon as it is touched, in a border along a gravel path alongside Teucrium chamaedris and Origanum vulgare 'Country Cream' and in a rockery. In humid regions with heavy soil, these plants should be planted in a large rockery, a scree garden, paving or on a well-exposed slope. And of course, this herb can be used in cooking where it will delicately flavour tabbouleh, infusions, drinks, and syrupy peaches….

Calamintha sylvatica is a medicinal plant that is also used in the composition of a widely used spice in the Middle East, za'atar. This fragrant powder is a mixture of roasted Syrian oregano with sesame and salt, to which thyme and ground fruits of Rhus coriaria (the Sumac of tanners) are added.