horsemint

American  

[hawrs-mint] / ˈhɔrsˌmɪnt /

noun

1. a wild mint, Mentha longifolia, introduced into America from Europe, having spikes of lilac flowers.

2. any of various other wild mints mint as the New World Monarda punctata.

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horsemint British  

/ ˈhɔːsˌmɪnt /

noun

1. a hairy European mint plant, Mentha longifolia, with small mauve flowers: family Lamiaceae (labiates)

2. any of several similar and related plants, such as Monarda punctata of North America

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Etymology

Origin of horsemint

Middle English word dating back to 1225–75; horse, mint ¹

Example Sentences

He is never one to simply walk through a meadow when the path passes “heather, lupine, horsemint, daisies and wild licorice.”

From New York Times • Dec. 17, 2018

Range Management Expert Dick Whetsell can point out areas where cattle have wiped out prairie flowers, including wild indigo and blazing stars, leadplants and horsemint, prairie clover and many species of sunflowers.

From Time Magazine Archive

Feed to each animal a handful per day, unless rumination shall have ceased; then omit the oatmeal, and give a tea-spoonful of the mixed ingredients, in half a pint of hyssop, or horsemint tea.

From The American Reformed Cattle Doctor by Dadd, George

I was a grown girl by den an' could make horsemint tea for chills an' mullen leaves for fever good as anybody; an' horehound tea for colds, bitter as gall.

From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Mississippi Narratives by Work Projects Administration

Owing to their resemblance to the Monarda, or horsemint of the East, these Western plants have been given the diminutive of its name—Monardella.

From The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits by Parsons, Mary Elizabeth