Starched Wool Mint

Old English stercan, to stiffen — past-participle of starch. As a color modifier, starched implies a clear-and-stiff-and-formal quality, the crisp color of Edwardian-period formal-evening-shirt-and-collar starched-and-pressed dress-attire. Sits at the crisp-and-finished end of the grid, parallel to pressed and ironed in usage.

Old English wull, wool. As a color modifier, wool implies a sheep-fleece-and-warm quality, the visual register of Cotswold-and-Welsh-and-Highland hand-spun-and-hand-woven sheep-fleece-and-felted Cotswold-Welsh-Highland wool-textile surfaces under hand-spun-and-felted-wool textile light. Sits at the modifier-and-texture end of the grid, parallel to silk and yarn in usage.

The genus Mentha — peppermint, spearmint, apple mint, water mint — the cooling herb whose menthol gives it that quality at the molecular level. The color refers to fresh peppermint leaves before drying: a clean, slightly cool green with the matte finish of trichome-rich leaf surface. Lighter than basil, cooler than parsley, with the mojito-and-Pimm's association of a herb tied to summer drinks across two continents.