Spreading by rhizomes in moist soils, this aromatic, flavorful native mint spreads through wet meadows and along steam sides. Note the dense clusters of tiny lavender to white flowers are nestled in the axils of opposite leaves along the stem, which is square and usually hairy. 

FLOWER: June–September. Flower in dense clusters in the leaf axils (not spikes on the branch tips); each flower is tubular 3/16–1/4 inch long (4–6 mm) and with 2 lips.

LEAVES: Opposite, on short stems (petioles). Blades elliptic to lance-shaped, 1/2–3 inches long (1–8 cm), margins serrated, surfaces pitted with glands, lower surface (especially veins) short-hairy.

HABITAT: Damp sandy, loamy soils; meadows, stream sides, drainages, ditches, springs, seeps; pinyon-juniper, ponderosa-Douglas fir, spruce-fir forests.

ELEVATION: 3,400–9,700 feet.

RANGE: Nationwide except the southern states Louisiana to North Carolina.

SIMILAR SPECIES: The widely naturalized garden spearmint, M. spicata, has hairless stems and leaves and flowers in a spike on the branch tips (see photo).

NM COUNTIES: Nearly statewide (absent se plains, nw corner) in loose soils in low- to high-elevation, moist habitats: Bernalillo, Catron, Chaves, Cibola, Colfax, Dona Ana, Grant, Harding, Lincoln, Los Alamos, McKinley, Mora, Otero, Rio Arriba, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Socorro, Taos, Torrance, Union, Valencia.