Mentha gattefossei

Mentha gattefossei is a perennial plant with a creeping, branched rhizome. Its simple to slightly branched stems grow 20 to 30 centimeters high. Its 10 to 15 millimeter-length leaves are sessile, glabrous and broadly linear to oblanceolate in shape. Flowers form along verticillasters, pedicels 2 to 3 millimeters long, 2-lipped calyx possessing 5 lobes. Its corolla is whitish, 4 to 5 millimeters long. Mentha gattefossei may be distinguished from most species within the Mentha genus due to its whitish apical spine on each calyx lobe, a feature it shares with only M. cervina. It may be distinguished from M. cervina by the number of calyx lobes. Maire further distinguished M. gattefossei by its unincised bracts.

Its flowering season in its native range is in June and July. A study of experimental plantings in Moldova found its seed germination rate to be about 70%. Its essential oil's main components are pulegone (68.4%) and menthone (10.4%). Other chemicals identified in smaller amounts include neomenthol, d-limonene, alpha-Pinene, beta-Pinene, eucalyptol and caryophyllene.

Mentha gattefossei is strictly endemic to the High Atlas, Middle Atlas, Anti Atlas and Saharan regions of Morocco, in an area estimated to be around 500 square kilometers. Its primary habitat is at the edge of dayas (pools which evaporate during the summer) in the Atlas Mountains. It also occupies other wet habitats, such as river banks, irrigation canals and damp meadows and pastures. Due to its constrained distribution, it has been described as "among the rarest plants in the world." According to the IUCN, it is believed that warming due to climate change could have a significant impact on Mediterranean plants. Because of its rarity, international efforts have been made at propagation for conservation purposes. Experimentally, in vitro micropropagation has been successfully used to induce multiple shoots from axillary buds, which the authors proposed as a method for large-scale propagation and conservation.