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Hedeoma pulegioides

Common name:	American Pennyroyal	Family:	Labiatae
Author:	(L.)Pers.	Botanical references:	43
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	In large quantities this plant, especially in the form of the extracted essential oil, can be toxic if taken internally[222]. Skin contact with the pure essential oil can cause dermatitis[222]
Range:	N. America - S. Quebec to Minnesota and S. Dakota, then south to Tennessee and Arkansas.
Habitat:	Dry soils[43 in open woods and fields[169].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	3	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	3

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Cunila pulegioides[B,P] Hederoma pulegioides[H] Melissa pulegioides[B,G,P] Ziziphora pulegioides[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	American False Pennyroyal [B], American Falsepennyroyal [P], American Pennyroyal [H,E], Amerikaans Polekruid [E], Amerikanische Poleiminze [E], Menthe Pouliot Americain [E], Pennyroyal [E], Squaw Mint [H],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	pulegioides = like pennyroyal
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Lamiales. Renamed to Lamiaceae -- Mint family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Britain France Germany Netherlands Us Us(Amerindian) Us(Appalachia)

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 0.3m by 0.2m . It is hardy to zone 6. It is in flower from July to September. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 3/5 for edibility and 3/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid and neutral soils and can grow in very acid soil. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Cultivated Beds, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade.

Edible Uses

Condiment Leaves.

The leaves have a very strong mint-like aroma and taste[171], they can be brewed into a refreshing tea that promotes good digestion, or they can be used as a culinary flavouring[183, 238].
An essential oil from the plant is used by the food industry as a flavouring in beverages, ice cream, baked goods etc[183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Abortifacient Birthing aid Carminative Diaphoretic Rubefacient Stimulant.

American pennyroyal has a long history of medicinal use by various native North American Indian tribes and has become a traditional household remedy in North America[238]. It is used mainly in the treatment of digestive disorders, colds, whooping cough, painful menstruation and as an aid in childbirth[238]. A tea made from the leaves or flowering stems is carminative, rubefacient, stimulant[46, 61, 171]. It is used to treat colds because it promotes perspiration[207]. A tea with brewers yeast can induce an abortion[213]. The plants are harvested when flowering and can be used fresh or dried[213, 238].
The essential oil is distilled from the plants when they are in flower and used medicinally in the same ways as the leaves. Caution is advised since the pure essential oil is very toxic and ingestion can be lethal whilst skin contact can cause dermatitis[222, 238].

Other Uses

Essential Repellent.

The essential oil is used as an ingredient in commercial insect repellents and cleaning products[238].
The plant is used as an insect repellent[169, 171]. When rubbed on the body it is said to repel ticks[207].

Cultivation details

Prefers a sunny position in a well-drained acidic soil of low to moderate fertility[169]. Another report says that it prefers a rich sandy soil in sun or partial shade[238].
The plants neat habit and aromatic foliage make it a good candidate for growing in containers or planting near seats[238].

Propagation

Seed - sow in situ in spring or autumn[169].

Scent

Leaves: Crushed: The plant has aromatic foliage.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Hederoma pulegioides (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[169] Buchanan. R. A Weavers Garden.
Covers all aspects of growing your own clothes, from fibre plants to dyes.

[171] Hill. A. F. Economic Botany. The Maple Press 1952
Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some a bit of detail about the plants it does cover.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[207] Coffey. T. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File. 1993 ISBN 0-8160-2624-6
A nice read, lots of information on plant uses.

[213] Weiner. M. A. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books 1980 ISBN 0-449-90589-6
A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

Readers Comments

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