HERB - safety of orange bergamot mint

[Jenne Heise]

> bergamot is normally a genus of New World mints, like, but not identical to,
> the mints of Europe
> (bergamot is _Monarda_, peppermint and spearmint are _Mentha_)

Well, it _isn't_ a Monarda. I _think_ it gets its varietal name (orange
bergamot) from the citrus-y aspects of the scent, after the bergamot
citrus fruit (the one the essential oils come from).
 
> If you have _Mentha x piperita_  [the x in the name indicates its a  hybrid of
> two naturally occurring species] you have peppermint, and since peppermint is a
> sterile hybrid, it isn't going to have changed very much, just spread and
> spread.  

Actually, it hasn't changed much, though it killed off the peppermint I
planted near it once. I guess I just started to worry because the new
growth is so dark that it reminded me of pennyroyal. (It's bigger,
[metaphorically] hairier, tougher, and stronger than any other mint I've
ever met).

A quick search on the web (ok, everyone, bap me on the head for not doing
this first) shows that there is a Mentha citrata that is called Orange
Bergamot mint
(http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Lamiaceae/Mentha_citrata.html)
and that a bunch of aromatherapy sites say the essential oil is perfectly
safe. Other sites call it Mentha X piperata var. citrate, so there may be
some wierd naming conventions out there...

Anyway, thanks for the reassurance. I'm going to be using the plants my
mom dug up as part of a fund-raising effort to pay the cost of mailing our
kingdom Herbal & Apothecary Guild newsletter, so I wanted to be sure it
was safe. (My brothers ate the stuff, but then, my brothers ate a lot of
stuff....)

Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, mka Jennifer Heise	      jenne at tulgey.browser.net
disclaimer: i speak for no-one and no-one speaks for me.
	"Oh it's all too much, too grim, too lovely, too -- how should 
	I put this? It's general chaos." -- Edward Gorey

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