''Nepeta cataria'', commonly known as catnip and catmint, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of the genus ''

Nepeta ''Nepeta'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family (biology), family Lamiaceae. The genus name, from Latin (“catnip”), is reportedly in reference to Nepi, Nepete, an ancient Etruscan cities, Etruscan city.

'' in the mint family,

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

to southern and eastern

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, northern parts of the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, and

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

. It is widely

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

in northern Europe,

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. The common name

catmint Catmint usually refers to: * the genus ''Anisomeles'' * the garden plant ''Nepeta'' × ''faassenii'' It may also refer to * '' Anisomeles indica'' * '' Anisomeles malabarica'', Malabar catmint * the plant genus ''Nepeta'' ** ''Nepeta cataria ...

can also refer to the genus as a whole. It is a short-lived

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

mint-family herb growing tall with square stems, grayish canescent leaves that vary in shape and have serrated edges, fragrant small bilabiate flowers arranged in

raceme A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are ...

spikes, and produces small three-sided

nutlet A nut is a fruit consisting of a hard or tough nutshell protecting a kernel which is usually edible. In general usage and in a culinary sense, many dry seeds are called nuts, but in a botanical context, "nut" implies that the shell does not open ...

s containing one to four seeds. It was described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in 1753, with no subspecies but multiple botanical synonyms, and its name—derived from

medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It was also the administrative language in the former Western Roman Empire, Roman Provinces of Mauretania, Numidi ...

—reflects its historical association with

cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

s and various traditional names dating back to

medieval England England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the Middle Ages, medieval period, from the end of the 5th century through to the start of the Early modern Britain, early modern period in 1485. When England emerged from the co ...

. Catnip is named for the intense attraction about two-thirds of cats have to the plant due to the terpene

nepetalactone Nepetalactone is a name for multiple iridoid Structural analog, analog stereoisomers. Nepetalactones are produced by ''Nepeta cataria'' (catnip) and many other plants belonging to the genus ''Nepeta'', in which they protect these plants from herbiv ...

, which acts as a natural

insect repellent An insect repellent (also commonly called "bug spray" or "bug deterrent") is a substance applied to the skin, clothing, or other surfaces to discourage insects (and arthropods in general) from landing or climbing on that surface. Insect repellent ...

and induces playful,

euphoric Euphoria ( ) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and danci ...

behavior in cats. It is used in herbal teas for its sedative and relaxant properties; it is

drought-tolerant In botany, drought tolerance is the ability by which a plant maintains its biomass production during arid or drought conditions. Some plants are naturally adapted to dry conditions'','' surviving with protection mechanisms such as desiccation tole ...

and

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

-resistant.

Description

''Nepeta cataria'' is a short-lived

that grows tall, usually with several stems. Each of its stems is square in cross section, as typical of the mint family, and somewhat gray in color. It is a

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition o ...

that regrows from a

taproot A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproot ...

. It does not root deeply. Older plants tend to have more branches with particularly healthy plants becoming mound shaped. The leaves are in appearance, white in color due to being covered in fine hairs, especially so on the lower side of the leaves. They are attached in pairs to opposite sides of the stems. Leaf shapes vary from cordate, deltoid, to

ovate Ovate may refer to: * Ovate (egg-shaped) leaves, tepals, or other botanical parts *Ovate, a type of prehistoric stone hand axe * Ovates, one of three ranks of membership in the Welsh Gorsedd * Vates or ovate, a term for ancient Celtic bards ...

; shaped like a heart, triangle, or like an egg. They are attached by leaf stems and have a length of and wide. The edges of the leaves are coarsely crenate to serrate, having a wavy, rounded edge to have asymmetrical teeth like those of a saw that point forward. The flowers are in loose groups in an

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

. The lowest flowers more widely spaced and the end more tightly packed into a spike. The inflorescences are at the end of branches and may be long and have inconspicuous

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

s. A single plant may produce several thousand flowers, but at any time less than 10% of them will be in full bloom. The flowers themselves are somewhat small and inconspicuous, but quite fragrant. They are bilaterally symmetrical and measure long. The petals are off white to pink and usually dotted with purple-pink spots. They are with the upper lip having two lobes and the lower one much wider with a scalloped edge. The fruit is a

that is nearly triquetrous, three sided with sharp edges and concave sides, and overall shaped like an egg. They measure approximately . Each nutlet may contain between one and four seeds. They are dark reddish-brown in color with two white spots near the base.

Taxonomy

''Nepeta cataria'' was one of the many species described by

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in 1753 in his landmark work ''

Species Plantarum ' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genus, genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial nomenclature ...

''. He had previously described it in 1738 as (meaning ''"Nepeta'' with flowers in a stalked, interrupted spike"), before the commencement of

Linnaean taxonomy Linnaean taxonomy can mean either of two related concepts: # The particular form of biological classification (taxonomy) set up by Carl Linnaeus, as set forth in his ''Systema Naturae'' (1735) and subsequent works. In the taxonomy of Linnaeus th ...

. Catnip is classified in part of ''

'' in the

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle, or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil (herb), ba ...

, commonly known as the mint

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

. It has no

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

or varieties.

Synonyms

''Nepeta cataria'' has botanical

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

, 16 of which are species. Only three are exactly equivalent to the current description of the species.

Names

The species name ''cataria'' means "of cats". It derives from the medieval Latin ''herba catti'' or ''herba cattaria'' used by medieval herbalists. The English

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

''catnip'' is first recorded in 1775 in the colony of Pennsylvania, but now has worldwide usage. The variant ''catnep'' was also coined in the United States around 1806, but never became common elsewhere and is now very rarely used. The first usage of ''catmint'' was in about 1300 in the form ''kattesminte''. It continues to be used for ''Nepeta cataria'', though it is also used for other species in the genus and the ''Nepeta'' as a genus. In medieval English it was also called ''cat-wort'', but this ceased by about 1500. Another name with a medieval origin was ''nep'', ''neps'', or ''nepe''. Originating about 1475, it was more common but has become a regional name for catnip used in

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

. In medieval England it was known by various names in botanical manuscripts. It was called ''calamentum minus'' and ''nasturcium mureligi''. It was also called ''nepeta'' or variants, but other species or genuses like the dead-nettles (''

Lamium ''Lamium'' (dead-nettles) is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae, of which it is the type genus. They are all herbaceous plants native to Eurasia and northern Africa, with several widely naturalised across muc ...

'') were also sometimes called this. It was also sometimes called ''collocasia'', but this was more often applied to horse-mints especially '' Mentha longifolia''.

Range and habitat

According to

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

, the native range of catnip includes a large part of Eurasia. In Europe it is certainly native to the south around the Mediterranean and in the east, but sources disagree on its native status in the north in countries like the Baltic Countries, Germany, the Netherlands, and England. Around the Mediterranean it is identified as native in Portugal, Spain, France, Corsica, Italy, Switzerland, the former Yugoslavia, Albania, and Greece. In the East it is native to Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Belarus, European Russia, and the Caucasus. It is generally agreed to be an introduced species in Scandinavia, Poland, and may also grow in Ireland. In Asia its range extends from Turkey into Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq. Eastward it continues to Iran and Pakistan and the western Himalayas, but no further into India. It is native to all of Central Asia including Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kirghistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan and also extends to western Siberia. Its native status in China is disputed as it also is in the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...

, Nepal, Korea, and Japan. In Africa it may grow in Morocco, but this report is doubtful. It also grows as introduced species on the island of

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

. In Australia it has been reported in the states of South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and Tasmania. It grows on both the north and south islands of New Zealand, having been introduced there in 1870. In North America it grows in Canada from the island of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, but not in

Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

or the three northern

Canadian territories Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North America—New Brunswick, N ...

. In the United States it is present in 48 states, only absent from Florida and Hawaii. In South America it grows in many parts of Argentina as well as in Colombia. It grows in a variety of soils from clay to sandy or even shallow and rocky. It requires good drainage to prevent it from becoming waterlogged.

Uses

The plant

terpenoid The terpenoids, also known as isoprenoids, are a class of naturally occurring organic compound, organic chemicals derived from the 5-carbon compound isoprene and its derivatives called terpenes, diterpenes, etc. While sometimes used interchangeabl ...

is the main chemical constituent of the essential oil of ''Nepeta cataria''. Nepetalactone can be extracted from catnip by steam distillation.

Cultivation

''Nepeta cataria'' is cultivated as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

for use in gardens. It is also grown for its attractant qualities to house cats and

butterflies Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

. The plant is

and

-resistant. It can be a repellent for certain insects, including

aphid Aphids are small sap-sucking insects in the Taxonomic rank, family Aphididae. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white Eriosomatinae, woolly ...

s and squash bugs. Catnip is best grown in full sunlight and grows as a loosely branching, low perennial. The

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

''Nepeta cataria'' 'Citriodora', also known as ''lemon catmint'', is known for the strong lemon-scent of its leaves.

Biological control

The

iridoid Iridoids are a type of monoterpenoids in the general form of cyclopentanopyran, found in a wide variety of plants and some animals. They are biosynthetically derived from 8-oxogeranial. Iridoids are typically found in plants as glycosides, mo ...

that is deposited on cats who have rubbed themselves against the plants and scratched the surfaces of catnip and silver vine (''Actinidia polygama'') leaves repels mosquitoes. The compound iridodial, an iridoid extracted from catnip oil, has been found to attract lacewings that eat aphids and mites.

As an insect repellent

Nepetalactone is a mosquito and fly repellent. Oil isolated from catnip by steam distillation is a repellent against insects, in particular mosquitoes, cockroaches, and termites. Research suggests that, while it may be a more effective spatial repellant than

DEET ''N'',''N''-Diethyl-''meta''-toluamide, also called diethyltoluamide or DEET (, from DET, the initials of di- + ethyl + toluamide), is the oldest, one of the most effective, and most common active ingredients in commercial insect repellents. ...

, it is not as effective as SS220 or DEET when used on human skin.

Effect of ingestion on humans

Catnip has a history of use in traditional medicine for a variety of ailments such as stomach cramps, indigestion, fevers, hives, and nervous conditions. The plant has been consumed as a tisane, juice,

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

, infusion, or poultice, and has also been smoked. Its medicinal use has fallen out of favor with the development of modern medicine.

Effect on felines

Catnip contains the feline attractant

. ''N. cataria'' (and some other species within the genus ''Nepeta'') are known for their behavioral effects on the cat family, not only on

domestic cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small Domestication, domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have sh ...

s, but also other species. Several tests showed that

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

serval The serval (''Leptailurus serval'') is a wild small cat native to Africa. It is widespread in sub-Saharan countries, where it inhabits grasslands, wetlands, moorlands and bamboo thickets. Across its range, it occurs in protected areas, and ...

s, and

lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

es often reacted strongly to catnip in a manner similar to domestic cats.

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

s and tigers may react strongly as well, but they do not react consistently in the same fashion. With domestic cats, ''N. cataria'' is used as a recreational substance for the enjoyment of pet cats, and catnip and catnip-laced products designed for use with domesticated cats are available to consumers. Common behaviors cats display when they sense the bruised leaves or stems of catnip are rubbing on the plant, rolling on the ground, pawing at it, licking it, and chewing it. Consuming much of the plant is followed by drooling, sleepiness, anxiety, leaping about, and

purr A purr or whirr is a tonal fluttering sound made by some species of felids, including both larger, wild cats and the domestic cat (''Felis catus''), as well as two species of genets. It varies in loudness and tone among species and in the same ...

ing. Some cats growl,

meow A meow or miaow is a cat vocalization. ''Meows'' may have diverse tones in terms of their sound, and what is heard can vary from being chattered to calls, murmurs, and whispers. Adult cats rarely meow to each other. Thus, an adult cat meowin ...

, scratch, or bite at the hand holding it. The main response period after exposure is generally between 5 and 15 minutes, after which olfactory fatigue usually sets in. About one-third of cats are not affected by catnip. The behavior is hereditary. Cats detect nepetalactone through their

olfactory epithelium The olfactory epithelium is a specialized epithelium, epithelial tissue inside the nasal cavity that is involved in olfaction, smell. In humans, it measures and lies on the roof of the nasal cavity about above and behind the nostrils. The olfact ...

, not through their

vomeronasal organ The vomeronasal organ (VNO), or Jacobson's organ, is the paired auxiliary olfactory (smell) sense organ located in the soft tissue of the nasal septum, in the nasal cavity just above the roof of the mouth (the hard palate) in various tetrapods ...

. At the olfactory epithelium, the nepetalactone binds to one or more

olfactory receptor Olfactory receptors (ORs), also known as odorant receptors, are chemoreceptors expressed in the cell membranes of olfactory receptor neurons and are responsible for the detection of odorants (for example, compounds that have an odor) which give ...

s. A 1962 pedigree analysis of 26 cats in a Siamese breeding colony suggested that the catnip response was caused by a Mendelian- dominant gene. A 2011 pedigree analysis of 210 cats in two breeding colonies (taking into account

measurement error Observational error (or measurement error) is the difference between a measured value of a quantity and its unknown true value.Dodge, Y. (2003) ''The Oxford Dictionary of Statistical Terms'', OUP. Such errors are inherent in the measurement pr ...

by repeated testing) showed no evidence for Mendelian patterns of inheritance but demonstrated heritabilities of for catnip response behavior, indicating a

polygenic A polygene is a member of a group of non- epistatic genes that interact additively to influence a phenotypic trait, thus contributing to multiple-gene inheritance (polygenic inheritance, multigenic inheritance, quantitative inheritance), a type ...

liability threshold model. A study published in January 2021 suggests that felines are specifically attracted to the

iridoids Iridoids are a type of monoterpenoids in the general form of cyclopentanopyran, found in a wide variety of plants and some animals. They are biosynthetically derived from 8-oxogeranial. Iridoids are typically found in plants as glycosides, mos ...

nepetalactone and nepetalactol, present in catnip and silver vine, respectively. Cats younger than six months might not exhibit behavioral change to catnip. Up to a third of cats are genetically immune to catnip effects but may respond in a similar way to other plants such as valerian (''Valeriana officinalis'') root and leaves, silver vine or matatabi ('' Actinidia polygama''), and Tatarian honeysuckle ('' Lonicera tatarica'') wood.

Notes

Citations

References

;Books * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ;Journals * * * * * * * *

External links

USDA Plant Profile: ''Nepeta cataria'' (catmint)
{{Authority control cataria Flora of Southwestern Europe Flora of Southeastern Europe Flora of Eastern Europe Flora of West Siberia Flora of Central Asia Flora of the Caucasus Flora of Western Asia Flora of Pakistan Flora of West Himalaya Cat attractants Perennial plants Plant toxin insecticides Plants described in 1753