Mentha pulegium L.
A hairy, strongly aromatic, spreading perennial, with branching, ascending stems up to 45 cm long. Leaves 1 to 3 cm long, short-stalked, ovate to lanceolate, sometimes shallowly toothed. Flowers 5 to 6 mm long, lilac or pink, borne in numerous dense rounded widely-spaced whorls, around 1.5 cm across. Calyx zygomorphic, 3 to 4 mm long.
Local: Very rare in Gibraltar. Introduced on imported soil in cultivated plots.
Global: Found throughout most of southern and central Europe, northern and eastern Africa, and western Asia.
Flowers from (May) June, July, August, September to October.
Grows on wet places, damp meadows and by streams.
The essential oil is very poisonous.
Pennyroyal is a traditional culinary herb, folk remedy and abortifacient. It was commonly used as a cooking herb by the Greeks and Romans.