Yes, mint plants do go to seed. Mint (Mentha species) is a flowering plant, and like most flowering plants, it produces flowers that can be pollinated, leading to the formation of seeds.
Understanding Mint Reproduction
While mint is well-known for its vigorous spread through underground runners or rhizomes (a process called vegetative propagation), it also has the ability to reproduce sexually through seeds.
- Flowering: Mint plants produce small flowers, often in spikes, typically during the summer months.
- Pollination: These flowers can be pollinated by insects.
- Seed Formation: Successful pollination results in the development of small, viable seeds.
How Mint Seeds Are Dispersed
In their natural habitat, mint seeds are often dispersed by environmental factors. Since mint often grows near water in the wild, the seeds are usually dispersed by water, a fascinating process known scientifically as hydrochory. This helps mint colonize new areas along riverbanks, streams, and damp environments where it thrives.
Seeds vs. Runners: The Gardener's Perspective
For home gardeners, growing or propagating mint from seeds is far less common than using cuttings or dividing existing plants. Here's why:
- Ease and Speed: Vegetative propagation (using runners or cuttings) is significantly faster and easier to establish a new plant.
- Genetic Consistency: Growing from seeds can result in plants with different traits than the parent plant due to genetic variation. Propagating from runners or cuttings ensures the new plant is genetically identical to the parent, preserving the desired flavour and characteristics of specific cultivars (like peppermint or spearmint).
- Viability: Mint seeds can sometimes be less reliably viable than starting from a piece of the live plant.
While seeds exist and are crucial for the plant's spread in the wild, most gardeners rely on the plant's natural tendency to spread horizontally via its roots to get new mint plants or share them with others.
Key takeaway: Mint does produce seeds, which are dispersed by methods like water in the wild, but gardeners typically propagate mint using its runners or cuttings for reliable results.
