Nepeta

Nepeta
Nepeta cataria – "true catnip"
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Subfamily: Nepetoideae
Tribe: Mentheae
Genus: Nepeta
L. (1753)
Synonyms[1]
  • Afridia Duthie (1898)
  • Cataria Adans. (1793)
  • Hymenocrater Fisch. & C.A.Mey. (1836)
  • Lophanthus Adans. (1763)
  • Marmoritis Benth. (1833)
  • Oxynepeta Bunge (1878)
  • Phyllophyton Kudô (1929)
  • Pitardia Batt. ex Pit. (1918)
  • Pseudolophanthus Levin (1941)
  • Saccilabium Rottb. (1778)
  • Saussuria Moench (1794)
  • Schizonepeta (Benth.) Briq. (1896)
  • Vleckia Raf. (1808)

Nepeta is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. The genus name, from Latin nepeta (“catnip”), is reportedly in reference to Nepete, an ancient Etruscan city.[2] There are 295 accepted species.[1]

The genus is native to Europe, Asia, and Africa, and has also naturalized in North America.[3]

Some members of this group are known as catnip or catmint because of their effect on house cats – the nepetalactone contained in some Nepeta species binds to the olfactory receptors of cats, typically resulting in temporary euphoria.[4]

  1. ^ a b Nepeta L. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  2. ^ Missouri Botanical Garden: Nepeta × faassenii. Accessed January 10, 2013
  3. ^ Leon L. Bram (1983). Robert S. Phillips, Norma H. Dickey (ed.). Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. ISBN 978-0-8343-0051-4.
  4. ^ Herron, Scott (2003). "Catnip, Nepeta cataria, a Morphological Comparison of Mutant and Wild Type Specimens to Gain an Ethnobotanical Perspective". Economic Botany. 57 (1): 135–142. doi:10.1663/0013-0001(2003)057[0135:cncamc]2.0.co;2. S2CID 29287116.

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