Is Wintergreen A Mint
Welcome to this article about whether you can classify wintergreen as a mint or not. Unfortunately to cut the story short, wintergreen is not a mint. Even though it does have a pretty strong mint flavor it can be grouped together.
Nonetheless, wintergreen is a fantastic tree or bush to have at home to grow for the smell and fragrance of it. It is a very sturdy and hardy variety that can last for a long time. Given the name it can stay good for a long time into the fall and even slightly in winter depending on the climate that it’s growing in.
Below here we will be talking more about wintergreen and the flavor and use of it. But also some of the similarities it shares with regular mint.
Is Wintergreen A Mint
Just like we said in the beginning of the article here we said that wintergreen is not a mint variety. It does instead share a lot of similarities with the most common peppermint, mostly in the flavor and the aroma of it.
Wintergreen will grow very tall and is just like regular peppermint, a perennial. Note that the term wintergreen is a very common terminology for any plant that will stay green and vibrant during the winter.
But there is a plant that is called wintergreen that shares that mint flavor that the regular plant has. Another factor that changes a bit with the wintergreen is that it will develop small red berries, quite unlike the normal mint.
The best chance of propagating this variety is to have it in a sunny spot where the sun shines a lot and it can get between 6 – 8 hours of it every day. It can actually be grown indoors but then you will need to prune it quite heavily as it can grow pretty tall. So keeping it in check from an early stage can be a good idea.
Make sure the soil is well draining and when you first plant it you wont run the risk of having the roots of the tree start to drown.
Are you having issues with overwatering your mint plant and you want to learn about the best way to do it. Then we have the perfect article for you. You can find it right here, Overwatered Mint Plant.
Is Wintergreen Mint The Same As Peppermint
Unfortunately wintergreen will not be the same as a peppermint. They are pretty unsimilar plants in the way they grow and look. But they do share one common similarity, that is the smell of it.
The smell is that fragrant mint aroma that you might be very aware of. Other than that the similarities between them stop there. The wintergreen will grow small red berries and keep the leaves during the winter, like the name implies.
If you are curious about if all mint varieties are actually edible and safe to eat then we have written an article about just that. You can find it here, Is All Mint Safe To Eat.
What Type Of Mint Is Wintergreen
Unfortunately there is no mint variety that is a wintergreen. They won’t stay green and fragrant during the winter. Instead they will be wilting down and should be cut before it gets too far. This is so that we don’t waste any of it and get the most of the season.
However, there can be a misunderstanding that wintergreen is a mint variety because of the very similar flavor it carries. But the fact of the matter is that wintergreen is not even in the same family as mint is.
This misinformation probably stems from people using wintergreen oil that smells exactly or at least similar to regular mint. Fortunately it’s not a poisonous variety so you don’t have to worry about feeling sick after using it.
