Plain Saturn Mint

Latin planus, flat, level — used as a color modifier since the medieval period for hues that read as undecorated and direct. Plain white, plain blue: moderate saturation, no shift, no surface effect. Sits in the crisp-bucket center, with the implication of restraint rather than absence.

Latin Saturnus, Roman-god-of-time-and-sixth-planet. As a color modifier, saturn implies a Roman-god-of-time-and-ringed-sixth-planet quality, the visual register of Roman-Saturn-and-Cassini-rings hand-Roman-god-of-time-and-ringed-sixth-planet Roman-Saturn-and-Cassini-rings-and-Saturnalia saturn-and-Roman-god-of-time-and-ringed-planet surfaces under Roman-Saturn-and-Cassini-rings-and-Saturnalia Saturnalia-festival-and-ringed-gas-giant ringed-planet-light. Sits at the modifier-and-zodiac end of the grid, parallel to jupiter and neptune 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.