Mentha spicata
Island distribution (first record)
Othonoi
!! !! ... approved by herbarium voucherEreikoussa
Mathraki
!! !! ... approved by herbarium voucherCorfu (Pieri 1808 as M. sylvestris)
Paxos
Antipaxos
! ! ... approved by field observationLefkada (Hofmann 1968 as M. longifolia)
Meganisi
Kalamos (Baliousis & Yannitsaros 2010 as M. spicata subsp. condensata)
Kastos
Atokos
!! !! ... approved by herbarium voucherIthaka (Salvator 1905 as M. crispa)
Echinades
!! !! ... approved by herbarium voucherCephalonia (Heldreich 1882 as M. tomentosa)
!! !! ... approved by herbarium voucherZakynthos (Gutermann 1997 as M. spicata)
Strofades
Annotation: Mentha spicata consists of allopolyploids of presumed polytopic origin. The taxonomy of this polymorphic complex is further complicated by the existence of old cultivated strains getting naturalized, and hybridization. Most Ionian plants correspond with the (wild) morphotype variously called subsp. condensata (as e. g. in »Vascular Plants of Greece«: Dimopoulos & al. 2013: 107), subsp. tomentosa (»Flora of Turkey«: Harley in Davis 1982: 392), or Mentha microphylla (»Flora Europaea«: Harley in Tutin & al. 1972: 186) characterized by rather small leaves (distinctly less than 4 cm long) ± densely stellate-tomentose beneath, and short anthers. However, on Ithaca quite similar plants were observed, with anthers only 0,30–0,32 mm and nutlets 0,6 mm long, but with stems and leaves glabrate (apart from the sessile glands and numerous micropapillae). [2016-07-07]