Catnip

Taxonomy

Nepeta cataria was one of the many species described by Linnaeus in 1753 in his landmark work Species Plantarum. He had previously described it in 1738 as Nepeta floribus interrupte spicatis pedunculatis (meaning "Nepeta with flowers in a stalked, interrupted spike"), before the commencement of Linnaean taxonomy. Catnip is classified in part of Nepeta in the Lamiaceae, commonly known as the mint family. It has no subspecies or varieties.

Synonyms

Nepeta cataria has 19 botanical synonyms, 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 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.

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 genera like the dead-nettles (Lamium) 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, 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 United Kingdom. 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, Kyrgyzstan, 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, 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. 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 to British Columbia, but not in Labrador or the three northern Canadian territories. 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 nepetalactone 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 for use in gardens. It is also grown for its attractant qualities to house cats and butterflies.

The plant is drought-tolerant and deer-resistant. It can be a repellent for certain insects, including aphids and squash bugs. Catnip is best grown in full sunlight and grows as a loosely branching, low perennial.

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

Biological control

The iridoid 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, it is not as effective as SS220 or DEET when used on human skin. However, a more recent 2026 study found that a 6% catnip lotion was in fact just as effective as DEET, with researchers noting that commercially available mosquito repellents like DEET are not always a practical solution due to cost.

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, 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 nepetalactone. N. cataria (and some other species within the genus Nepeta) are known for their behavioral effects on the cat family, including domestic cats and other species. Several tests showed that leopards, cougars, servals, and lynxes often reacted strongly to catnip in a manner similar to domestic cats. Lions 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 purring. Some cats growl, meow, 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, not through their vomeronasal organ. At the olfactory epithelium, the nepetalactone binds to one or more olfactory receptors.

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 by repeated testing) showed no evidence for Mendelian patterns of inheritance but demonstrated heritabilities of h² = 0.51–0.89 for catnip response behavior, indicating a polygenic liability threshold model.

A study published in January 2021 suggests that felines are specifically attracted to the iridoids 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.