Native Plants, Foods and Medicinal Elements
Native Mint (Mentha australis): The Calming Medicine of Country
MLA Educational Series — Country, Medicine, and Healing
Across the waterways and cool gullies of southeastern Australia, the gentle scent of Native Mint — Mentha australis — drifts through the air after rain. To the Wadawurrung, Wurundjeri, Dja Dja Wurrung, Gunditjmara, and other Kulin Nations, this small aromatic herb was both food and medicine, a plant of the heart and spirit. Its soothing fragrance symbolised peace, healing, and protection, and it was a key ingredient in teas, washes, and smokes used for treating illness and emotional imbalance.
Native Mint grows naturally along creeks, damp soils, and shaded valleys, especially on Wadawurrung Country near the Barwon River, Lake Connewarre wetlands, and the coastal plains toward Breamlea and the Bellarine Peninsula. The plant remains an enduring part of Victoria’s botanical and cultural identity — a link between traditional knowledge and modern herbal science (Clarke 2009; Gott 2019; RBGV 2023).
Botany and Ecology
Mentha australis is a perennial herb from the Lamiaceae (mint) family, native to temperate Australia. It thrives in moist soils, spreading through underground rhizomes that stabilise creek banks and support biodiversity.
Its soft, oval leaves carry a refreshing aroma due to essential oils rich in menthol, rosmarinic acid, and terpenes, which have natural antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, and calming properties (Southcott 1976; Kellerman et al. 2005).
Ecologically, Native Mint is an indicator species of healthy waterways. Its presence signals balanced moisture and soil life, while its flowers attract native bees, butterflies, and pollinating insects. The plant regenerates quickly after rain and responds well to traditional Indigenous fire regimes that clear undergrowth but preserve seed beds.
Cultural and Medicinal Significance
Healing with Native Mint
For the Wadawurrung and other Kulin Nations, Native Mint was a plant of cooling, cleansing, and calming — both physically and spiritually. Elders and healers used it in a range of medicinal and ceremonial contexts:
Tea and infusions — Fresh leaves were boiled in water to make a cooling drink for fevers, headaches, stomach pain, and anxiety. The infusion was also used to treat coughs and colds, often combined with eucalyptus or wattle bark to clear the chest (Clarke 2009; Gott 2019).
Steam therapy — Leaves were added to hot water and inhaled, releasing menthol-rich vapours that cleared sinuses and soothed the lungs — a traditional form of aromatherapy still used today (RBGV 2023).
Poultices — Crushed leaves were applied to insect bites or sores to reduce swelling and infection.
Smoke cleansing — Dried mint leaves were burned to create a gentle smoke used for emotional healing, grief, and stress, and to “cool” spaces after illness or ceremony.
These practices show a sophisticated understanding of plant chemistry and psychology — combining aroma, ritual, and medicine to restore both body and mind.
Wadawurrung Country: Mint and Waterways
On Wadawurrung Country, Native Mint grew abundantly along creeks and billabongs near Barwon (Parwan) River and Lake Connewarre. The plant was often found growing with lomandra, reeds, and water ribbons — a natural pharmacy that sustained both health and ecosystem.
Wadawurrung Elders taught that mint carried “the voice of water” — its cooling scent reminding people of balance and renewal. During gatherings or after ceremonies, mint smoke was used to cleanse participants, helping the spirit “flow like river water” after emotional intensity.
Mothers used mint infusions to calm children, and its tea was shared around evening fires as a gesture of peace. These uses connect directly with the Law of Country, where medicine is part of everyday life, not separate from it.
Medicinal Knowledge Across the Kulin Nations
Within the broader Kulin Nations, Mentha australis was widely known as a women’s healing plant and a medicine for emotional harmony.
Among the Wurundjeri, mint was brewed for menstrual discomfort and used as a cooling poultice on the body after fever or physical exertion.
The Dja Dja Wurrung used mint steam for purifying air in shelters and sickrooms, believing the scent restored the “breath of life” (Howitt 1904).
The Taungurung mixed mint with wattle bark ash to treat toothache or mouth inflammation.
The Boon Wurrung along the coast combined mint and paperbark in smoking blends used to prepare people for travel across Country, symbolising spiritual calm and focus (Clarke 2009).
In each Nation, Native Mint was a bridge between the inner and outer worlds — its aromatic oils carrying both physiological and spiritual medicine.
Smoke and Ceremony
In healing ceremonies, different smokes carried different meanings. Native Mint smoke was considered gentle, cooling, and emotionally balancing. It was used when the goal was not purification through heat (as with eucalyptus) but restoration of peace and clarity.
Cooling Smoke: Mint smoke was used after conflict or grief to restore calm and connection.
Welcome Smoke: During gatherings, mint and she-oak were burned together to create a soft, fragrant smoke that symbolised respect and welcome.
Healing Smoke: Combined with eucalyptus, mint smoke was used to “lift sickness from the chest” — both physically and symbolically.
The practice reflects deep botanical insight: menthol vapours from mint reduce inflammation in the lungs and stimulate circulation, mirroring its role as a breath-restoring plant in spiritual healing (Southcott 1976; DEECA 2022).
Other Indigenous Uses Across Australia
Beyond Victoria, Mentha australis and related species were used by communities across the continent:
Ngunnawal and Wiradjuri (NSW) — Used mint tea to relieve fever and indigestion, and as a mouth rinse for infections (Clarke 2009).
Yorta Yorta (Murray–Goulburn region) — Boiled mint with river mud and bark to create a herbal poultice for joint swelling.
Kaurna and Ngarrindjeri (SA) — Used mint for respiratory infections, colds, and as a calming agent for children (Gott 2019).
Noongar (WA) — Used coastal mints in smoke blends for cleansing campsites before new arrivals.
These widespread applications demonstrate the pan-Australian recognition of mint as a symbol of coolness, health, and gentle healing — an herbal constant across diverse landscapes.
Scientific Understanding
Modern research supports the traditional uses of Mentha australis. The plant’s essential oils contain:
Menthol — anti-inflammatory and decongestant.
Rosmarinic acid — antioxidant and anti-anxiety properties.
Tannins and flavonoids — antiseptic and digestive support (Kellerman et al. 2005; RBGV 2023).
These compounds explain its effectiveness in treating respiratory, digestive, and stress-related conditions. Yet, traditional healers always emphasised that its true power lay not just in chemistry, but in its spirit — a plant that teaches calmness and compassion, reminding people to “breathe with the land.”
Colonisation and Disruption
Colonisation devastated Indigenous medical systems by clearing wetlands, diverting rivers, and restricting access to Country. Native Mint, once abundant along riverbanks, declined with the draining of swamps and agricultural expansion (DEECA 2022).
At the same time, Indigenous healing was criminalised under mission policies, and the use of smoking ceremonies or plant medicines was suppressed.
Despite this, knowledge of Native Mint persisted — quietly passed through families, recorded by ethnographers like Howitt (1904), and later revitalised by Elders during the cultural renewal movements of the late 20th century.
Revival and Modern Use
Today, Native Mint is being reintroduced into cultural gardens, community health programs, and bushfood education across Victoria and beyond.
The Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation includes mint in its Country restoration projects, using it in both medicinal workshops and welcome ceremonies.
The Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria features Mentha australis in its Aboriginal Plant Use trail, teaching visitors about its traditional and modern applications.
Indigenous chefs and herbalists incorporate mint in teas, syrups, and aromatherapy blends — honouring its cultural lineage while sharing its health benefits with a wider audience.
This revival reconnects plant, place, and people — ensuring that the scent of mint once again signals healing and balance on Country.
Conclusion
Mentha australis, the Native Mint of Victoria, is more than a plant — it is a medicine of calm and connection, rooted in the waterways and stories of Country. For the Wadawurrung and other Kulin Nations, it soothed the body, cooled the spirit, and symbolised peace after change or pain.
Its chemistry — menthol, tannins, and essential oils — affirms its physical healing power. But its greater gift lies in what it teaches: that health is harmony — between breath and land, emotion and community, human and earth.
As this gentle herb returns to gardens, rivers, and ceremonies, it reminds us that the healing of people and Country are one and the same.
References
Atkinson, J 2002, Trauma Trails: Recreating Song Lines, Spinifex Press, Melbourne.
Clarke, PA 2009, Australian Aboriginal Ethnobotany: An Overview, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
DEECA Victoria 2022, Protecting Victoria’s Biodiversity – Traditional Plant Use, Department of Energy, Environment & Climate Action, Melbourne.
Gott, B 2019, The Yam Daisy: A History of Aboriginal Plant Use in Victoria, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra.
Howitt, AW 1904, The Native Tribes of South-East Australia, Macmillan, London.
Kellerman, T et al. 2005, ‘Pharmacological potential of Centipeda cunninghamii’, Journal of Ethnopharmacology, vol. 96, pp. 177–185.
Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (RBGV) 2023, Traditional Plant Use and Indigenous Healing Practices in Victoria, RBGV, Melbourne.
Southcott, R 1976, Medical Uses of Australian Fungi and Plants, Australian Journal of Ethnobotany, Canberra.
Written, Researched and Directed by James Vegter (22 September 2025)
MLA
Sharing the truth of Indigenous and colonial history through film, education, land, and community.
www.magiclandsalliance.org
Copyright MLA – 2025
Magic Lands Alliance acknowledges the Traditional Owners, Custodians, and First Nations communities across Australia and internationally. We honour their enduring connection to the sky, land, waters, language, and culture. We pay respect to Elders past, present, and emerging, and to all First Peoples’ communities and language groups. This article draws only on publicly available information; many cultural practices remain the intellectual property of their respective communities.