1. Does anyone know how to write MANG LAK NAM in Thai script? I am told that it refers to the plant species of Mentha pulegium.

2. I was also told that SARANAE YUAN also refers to this same species.

I know that this translated means Vietnamese Mint, however there is another plant known as Vietnamese mint/Vietnamese coriander in English (pak pai ผักไผ่ or pak peow ผักแพว). Could SARANAE YUAN have two separate meanings?

Thank you for your help.

Kanga, I think we've been through part of this. Yuan does not literally translate as Vietnamese. It refers to a historic region of Vietnam. It's the English that is using Vietnamese mint to refer to different plants.

แมงลักน้ํา is indeed the same as สะระแหน่ญวน. See http://www.royin.go.th/upload/246/FileUpload/2161_4096.pdf

Your romanisation is not quite right - no final N. I'd write it as maeng lak naa.

Thank your for your 2 mails on this subject AyG. Yes, you are right. We did cover this in a way, on a previous subject regarding Vietnamese Mint/Vietnamese Coriander.

Eric from Dokmai Gardens gave me the name MANG LAK NAM, but didn't include the Thai script, so I did not notice that it should have been NAA instead of NAM. As he said that MANG LAK NAA and SARANAE YUAN were both in the Pennyroyal group, I thought this might be a completely different meaning.

Does this mean that MANG LAK NAA is in the Mentha Pulegium species? I am trying to find the Thai word for Pennyroyal (Mentha Pulegium). If so, I will not include SARANAE YUAN in this group, as it would be confused with Vietnamese Mint/Vietnamese Coriander.

Thanks for your help. I only now need confirmation that MANG LAK NAA is in the Mentha Pulegium group, meaning Pennyroyal. No hurry for your reply. I do not want to take up too much of your time, particularly on the weekend.

สะระแหน่ญวน is Mentha pulegium see http://www.thaikasetsart.com/%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B0%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B0%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%99%E0%B9%88/

(Kasetsart University has a wonderful agriculture department and holds regular fairs where they sell off rare, difficult to find plants. Definitely a reliable source.)

Mentha pulegium is Pennyroyal.

And แมงลักน้ํา is สะระแหน่ญวน (as proven previously).

I think that should be all cleared up now.

In my (albeit limited) experience, สะระแหน่ญวน is the more common term, so please don't omit it.

Dear AyG,

Sorry, but I forgot to mention. I looked at the site you gave me (www.royin...), but it was all in Thai, so I tried to read it with Google Translate, but it was a little hard to understand. Thanks anyway.

Sorry. I only provided the link for reference should anyone question what I'd asserted. The relevant phrase is "สะระแหน่ ญวน (Mentha pulegium L.) ".

Sorry. Wrote site. From the Royal Institute site the relevant phrase is "สะระแหน่ญวน หรือแมงลักน้ํา".

OK. Thanks AyG.

Dear AyG,

Thank you for the information in your mail regarding Kasetsart University. I am glad you recommended including the name Vietnamese Mint in the Mentha Pulegium group. I was still uneasy including it, so I thought I would try searching for Vietnamese Mint and Mentha Pulegium. Eureka!

Thanks to your persistence, I was able to find out that there is a plant called Vietnamese Mint in the Mentha Pulegium species (not to be confused with the OTHER most common Vietnamese Mint/Vietnamese Coriander in the Persicaria odorata species). Just for your information, here is the page referring to it (they also state that this name is confusing).

http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/Ment_pip.html

We have now solved this problem. Thank you again.

Kanga, I think we've been through part of this. Yuan does not literally translate as Vietnamese. It refers to a historic region of Vietnam. It's the English that is using Vietnamese mint to refer to different plants.

แมงลักน้ํา is indeed the same as สะระแหน่ญวน. See http://www.royin.go.th/upload/246/FileUpload/2161_4096.pdf

The final syllable has been mistyped. It has been typed <no nu, mai tho, nikkhahit, sara aa> whereas it should have been typed <no nu, mai tho, sara am>. The transliteration should therefore be 'maeng lak nam', with a final 'm' as originally written. There are plenty of images of a mint-like plant for แมงลักน้ำ. I wonder if AyG's browser was failing to render the nikkhahit above the tone mark.

Edited May 4, 201412 yr by Richard W

Richard W,

I am afraid I will have to hand this one over to AyG.

Kanga, I think we've been through part of this. Yuan does not literally translate as Vietnamese. It refers to a historic region of Vietnam. It's the English that is using Vietnamese mint to refer to different plants.

แมงลักน้ํา is indeed the same as สะระแหน่ญวน. See http://www.royin.go.th/upload/246/FileUpload/2161_4096.pdf

The final syllable has been mistyped. It has been typed <no nu, mai tho, nikkhahit, sara aa> whereas it should have been typed <no nu, mai tho, sara am>. The transliteration should therefore be 'maeng lak nam', with a final 'm' as originally written. There are plenty of images of a mint-like plant for แมงลักน้ำ. I wonder if AyG's browser was failing to render the nikkhahit above the tone mark.

Well spotted. I cut and pasted from the Royal Institute document where they've typed the characters wrongly meaning the text doesn't display correctly, and I misread it. This would also make the spelling consistent with Kanga's original Romanisation.

แมงลักน้ำ/MANG LAK NAM it is.

Thanks Richard W for noticing that and AyG for rechecking.

I have revised my records accordingly.