Books on mints
There have been a number of books that say they are about mints published during the last couple of decade, but often they are about the whole Family Lamiaceae and not just the Genus Mentha. Of those that are about mints I have only been able to get one. (WHSmiths did list many others as available through their website, but only one materialised.) Unfortunately this book, from the USA, is very expensive, without the type of content I think the UK mint gardener would find helpful in collecting and growing their plants. The rest may be available second hand, but a recent Amazon search saw most of these disappear.
I will research these as soon as I can and put the details and (lack of) availability, on this page when I can.
So for information on mints, we will have to continue to look through books on herbs and get the thickest which usually list a greater number of different mints.
Books on mints, available in the UK
Mint: The genus Mentha
Editor: Brian M. Lawrence
Imprint: CRC Press www.crcpress.com
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group, 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742, USA (also London & New York) www.taylorandfrancis.com
Series Title: Medicinal and Aromatic Plants - Industrial Profiles
Series Part: Volume 44
Date of Publication: 04-12-2006
Hardback
Acid-free paper
576 pages
116 b/w illustrations, 3 colour illustrations, 190 b/w tables, 35 b/w halftones
ISBN-10: 0-8493-0779-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-8493-0779-9
Price: £67.99Comment: Here we have a nice thick book that is all about mints. However before you get too exited, look at the Series Title - Medicinal and Aromatic Plants - Industrial Profiles. It is not a book for gardeners, or cooks, it is more a book for chemists, or agronomists. The first chapter, on classification, has some points of interest, but with no actual plant descriptions or pictures and no cultivars or un-named variants at all - the reader needs to be aware of the book's remit. There are a lot of natural varieties of Mentha longifolia listed, but other common mints which are normally listed solely by botanical names are missing. Not a book for the average herb grower, at almost £70, maybe for the mintaholic to study with reference to other mint books as well, but I would suggest ordering from the library, to have a look at it first, or not to bother. Books on the Lamiaceae family, available in the UK
Handbook of Medicinal Mints - Phytochemical and Biological Activities
Author: James A. Duke, Stephen M. Beckstrom-Sternberg
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint: CRC Press Inc
Series Title: Herbal reference library
Date of Publication: 10-11-2000
Hardback
480 pages
ISBN 10: 0849327245
ISBN-13: 97808493227247
Price: £79.00This book is NOT just about mints, but all the Genera of the Lamiaceae (Labiatae) Family, which includes thymes, basils, rosemaries, sages, lavenders, etc, as well as mints Comment: The title looks really good doesn't it - a whole book on the medicinal uses of mints. I was mistaken for a while too. It would in fact be better named as a book on the "medicinal labiates" - although the family has been changed from Labiatae to Lamiaceae. So there are a lot more non-Mentha "mints" in this book than you might like. On the other hand if you are interested in the technical side of the medicinal uses of rosemary, lavender, basil, thyme, sage, etc, as well as mint, this is absolutely the book for you, if you have the £80 spare. I haven't seen a copy myself. Websites
When searching websites to make up for the lack of books, please be very cautious about what you find. There is incredible amount of incorrect information, even in sites that would lead you to think they should know what they are talking about. This is even worse with photographs - nice picture pity about the name!
Books on mints
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