Peppermint is a plant with a strong, cool, refreshing flavor that tingles on your tongue. You've probably tasted it in candy canes, chewing gum, toothpaste, or hot chocolate with a peppermint stick. That clean, icy sensation comes from natural oils in the peppermint plant's leaves.

Peppermint is actually a hybrid, meaning it's a cross between two other mint plants: watermint and spearmint. People have grown it for centuries, using it both as a flavoring and as a remedy for upset stomachs. The cooling effect you feel when you eat peppermint isn't actually cold: it's a chemical in the plant that tricks the sensors in your mouth into thinking the temperature has dropped.

Beyond food and medicine, peppermint oil shows up in candles, soaps, and shampoos because many people find its sharp, clean scent energizing and pleasant. The red-and-white-striped peppermint stick has become so connected with Christmas that seeing one instantly reminds many people of winter holidays, even though peppermint itself grows in summer.