Apple Mint or Wooly Mint (Mentha suavolescens)
This photo shows apple mint or wooly mint, Mentha suavolescens. This mint species is the one most similar to spearmint in flavor. It is very easy to cultivate in gardens, and often is more productive than spearmint, yielding a higher volume of herb to harvest, because the stems grow taller and the leaves are larger.
Like spearmint, this plant is aggressive in gardens.
The flavor is similar to spearmint, but there is a slight "apple-like" quality to its aroma, which explains its one common name.
It puzzles me why this herb is not commercially available.
This image is featured in our article on Spearmint Tea.
