Spearmint is common throughout Europe, Asia, and North America, and, escaping from cultivation, is found wild throughout most of the temperate regions of the world. Parkinson, 1640, speaks of it as a garden plant only (492), and its mention in early mediaeval lists of plants demonstrates that it was cultivated in the convent gardens of the ninth century. Turner's Herball (656), 1568, calls it Spere Mynte. Its use is largely that of a domestic and popular flavor in confectionery and as a perfume. In the form of an aromatic tea it has been a great favorite in domestic medicine, as is true also of its harsher relative, peppermint.
The History of the Vegetable Drugs of the U.S.P., 1911, was written by John Uri Lloyd.