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Information about Catnip

Catnip
Enlarge picture
Nepeta curviflora

Nepeta curviflora
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Plantae
Division:Magnoliophyta
Class:Magnoliopsida
Order:Lamiales
Family:Lamiaceae
Genus:Nepeta
Species


See text.
Nepeta is a genus of about 250 species of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. The members of this group are known as catnips or catmints due to its famed liking by cats—nepeta pleasantly stimulates cats' pheromonic receptor. The genus is native to Europe, Asia, and Africa, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region east to mainland China. It is now common in North America as a weed.[1] Most of the species are herbaceous perennial plants, but some are annuals. They have sturdy stems with opposite heart-shaped, green to grayish-green leaves. The flowers are white, blue, pink, or lilac and occur in several clusters toward the tip of the stems. The flowers are tubular shaped and are spotted with tiny purple dots. The scent of the plant has a stimulating effect on cats.

Also, oil isolated from catnip by steam distillation is a repellent against insects, in particular mosquitoes, cockroaches and termites.[2][3] Research suggests that in a test tube, distilled nepetalactone, the active ingredient in catnip, repels mosquitoes 10 times more effectively than DEET, the active ingredient in most insect repellents,[4][5] but that it is not as effective as a repellant on skin.[6]

Effects on cats

Catnip and catmints are mainly known for the behavioral effects they have on cats, particularly domestic cats. Both true catnip and Faassen's catnip have a sharp, biting taste, while the taste of giant catmint is bland. Approximately two thirds of cats are susceptible to the behavioral effects of catnip, as the phenomenon is hereditary. For example, most cats in Australia are not susceptible to catnip since Australian cats are drawn from a relatively closed genetic pool.[7] The fact that it only elicits such a response in a proportion of cats—and that it is such a dramatic response—suggests that a genetic element is involved that is enriched in domesticated breeds.

When cats sense the bruised leaves or stems of catnip, they may roll over it, paw at it, chew it, lick it, leap about and purr, often salivating copiously. Some cats will also growl and meow. This reaction only lasts for a few minutes before the cat loses interest. It takes up to two hours for the cat to "reset" after which it can come back to the catnip and have the same response as before. Young kittens and older cats are less likely to have a reaction to catnip.

There is some disagreement about the susceptibility of lions and tigers to catnip. Some claim that all lions and tigers are affected by catnip,[8] but others say lions are affected but not tigers.[7]

Catnip contains nepetalactone, a terpene. Nepetalactone can be extracted from catnip using steam distillation.[9] Cats detect it through their olfactory epithelium and not through their vomeronasal organ.[10] At the olfactory epithelium, the nepetalactone is hypothesized to bind to one or more olfactory receptors where it probably mimicks a pheromone, such as the hypothetical feline facial pheromone.

Other plants that also have this effect on cats include valerian (Valeriana officinalis) and plants that contain actinidine or dihydroactinidiolide (Smith, 2005).

Enlarge picture
A domestic cat demonstrating the effects of catnip such as rolling, pawing, and frisking

Species

Nepeta cataria (Catnip, True Catnip, Catmint or Field Balm) is a 50–100 cm tall herb resembling mint in appearance, with greyish-green leaves; the flowers are white, finely spotted with purple. It has been introduced to many countries, and is now a widespread weed in some areas, including the United States. A lemon-scented cultivar, N. cataria 'Citriodora' looks exactly like true catnip, but has the scent of lemons, and can be used like Lemon balm.

Nepeta grandiflora (Giant Catmint or Caucasus Catmint) is lusher than true catnip, and has dark green leaves and dark blue, almost purple flowers.

Nepeta × faassenii (N. racemosa × N. nepetella; Faassen's Nepeta or Faassen's Catnip) is mostly grown as an ornamental plant. This hybrid is far smaller than either of above, and is almost a ground cover. It has greyish-green leaves and light purple flowers.

Some Dracocephalum, Glechoma and Calamintha species were formerly classified in Nepeta.

Nepeta species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora albitarsella.

Enlarge picture
Nepeta curviflora flowers


Selected species
  • Nepeta agrestis
  • Nepeta annua
  • Nepeta apuleii
  • Nepeta beltranii
  • Nepeta camphorata
  • Nepeta cataria
  • Nepeta ciliaris
  • Nepeta coerulescens
  • Nepeta curviflora
  • Nepeta densiflora
  • Nepeta dentata
  • Nepeta dirphya
  • Nepeta discolor
  • Nepeta elliptica
  • Nepeta everardi
  • Nepeta floccosa
  • Nepeta foliosa
  • Nepeta fordii
  • Nepeta glutinosa
  • Nepeta govaniana
  • Nepeta granatensis
  • Nepeta grandiflora
  • Nepeta heldreichii
  • Nepeta hemsleyana
  • Nepeta hindostana
  • Nepeta hispanica
  • Nepeta italica
  • Nepeta jomdaensis
  • Nepeta kokamirica
  • Nepeta kokanica
  • Nepeta laevigata
  • Nepeta lamiopsis
  • Nepeta latifolia
  • Nepeta leucolaena
  • Nepeta leucophylla
  • Nepeta longibracteata
  • Nepeta manchuriensis
  • Nepeta melissifolia
  • Nepeta membranifolia
  • Nepeta micrantha
  • Nepeta multibracteata
  • Nepeta multifida
  • Nepeta mussinii
  • Nepeta nepalensis
  • Nepeta nepetella
  • Nepeta nervosa
  • Nepeta nuda
  • Nepeta parnassica
  • Nepeta parviflora
  • Nepeta phyllochlamys
  • Nepeta prattii
  • Nepeta pungens
  • Nepeta racemosa
  • Nepeta raphanorhiza
  • Nepeta scordotis
  • Nepeta sessilis
  • Nepeta sibirica
  • Nepeta sibthorpii
  • Nepeta souliei
  • Nepeta spruneri
  • Nepeta staintonii
  • Nepeta stewartiana
  • Nepeta sungpanensis
  • Nepeta supina
  • Nepeta taxkorganica
  • Nepeta tenuiflora
  • Nepeta tenuifolia
  • Nepeta tuberosa
  • Nepeta ucranica
  • Nepeta veitchii
  • Nepeta virgata
  • Nepeta wilsonii
  • Nepeta yanthina
  • Nepeta zandaensis
Natural hybrids
  • Nepeta × faassenii

References

1. ^ Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, Vol. 5 (ISBN 0-8343-0051-6)
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ [2]
4. ^ Dennis Loney (2001-08-28). Mosquito Repellents. American Chemical Society. Retrieved on 2007-08-28.
5. ^ Catnip sends mozzies flying, Danny Kingsley, ABC Science Online, September 3, 2001.
6. ^ Chauhan, K.R.; Klun, J.A.; Debboun, M.; Kramer, M. (2005). "Feeding Deterrent Effects of Catnip Oil Components Compared with Two Synthetic Amides Against Aedes aegypti". Journal of Medical Entomology 42 (4): 643-646. DOI:10.1603/0022-2585(2005)042[0643:FDEOCO]2.0.CO;2. 
7. ^ Cat Facts: Your Cat's Mind: Happy Cat-Heavenly Catnip, Marcella Durand for Cat Facts, 2003.
8. ^ [3]
9. ^ [4]
10. ^ [5]
  • Jacobs, Betty E.M. Growing and Using Herbs Successfully. Garden Way Publishing. Pownal, Vermont, 1981.

External links

Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Plantae
Haeckel, 1866[1]

Divisions

Green algae
  • Chlorophyta
  • Charophyta
Land plants (embryophytes)
  • Non-vascular land plants (bryophytes)

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Magnoliophyta

Classes

Magnoliopsida - Dicots
Liliopsida - Monocots

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms comprise the two extant groups of seed plants.
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Magnoliopsida

Magnoliopsida is the botanical name for a class of flowering plants. By definition the class will include the family Magnoliaceae, but its can otherwise vary, being more inclusive or less inclusive depending upon the classification system being
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Lamiales
Bromhead

Families

See text

The order Lamiales is a taxon in the asterid group of dicotyledonous flowering plants. Lamiales formerly had a restricted circumscription (e.g.
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Lamiaceae
Lindley

Genera

Many, see text
Ref: Watson and Dallwitz
2002-07-22

Lamiaceae or Labiatae, also known as the Mint family, is a family of plants in about 210 genera and some 3,500 species.
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genus (plural: genera) is part of the Latinized name for an organism. It is a name which reflects the classification of the organism by grouping it with other closely similar organisms.
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species is one of the basic units of biological classification. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.
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Magnoliophyta

Classes

Magnoliopsida - Dicots
Liliopsida - Monocots

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms comprise the two extant groups of seed plants.
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Lamiaceae
Lindley

Genera

Many, see text
Ref: Watson and Dallwitz
2002-07-22

Lamiaceae or Labiatae, also known as the Mint family, is a family of plants in about 210 genera and some 3,500 species.
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F. s. catus

Trinomial name
Felis silvestris catus
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms
Felis lybica invalid junior synonym
Felis catus invalid junior synonym[2]

The cat (
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pheromone is a chemical that triggers a natural behavioral response in another member of the same species. There are alarm pheromones, food trail pheromones, sex pheromones, and many others that affect behavior or physiology.
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Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. Physically and geologically, Europe is the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, west of Asia. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea,
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Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area (or 29.4% of its land area) and, with almost 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population.
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Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30,221,532 km² (11,668,545 sq mi) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area, and 20.4% of the total land area.
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The Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around and surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have a Mediterranean climate, with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers, which
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Mainland China (Simplified Chinese: 中国大陆; Traditional Chinese: 中國大陸; Pinyin:
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North America is a continent [1] in the Earth's northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the south and west
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WEED

City of license Rocky Mount, North Carolina
Broadcast area Rocky Mount-Wilson
Slogan "La Pantera"
Frequency 1390 kHz
Format Spanish
Power 5000 Watts
Class D
Owner Northstar Broadcating Corporation

WEED
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A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die at the end of the growing season to the soil level. A herbaceous plant may be annual, biennial or perennial.

Herbaceous perennial plants have stems that die at the end of the growing season.
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annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers and dies in one year. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed. Some seedless plants can also be considered annuals even though they do not flower.
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N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide, abbreviated DEET, is an insect repellent chemical. It is intended to be applied to the skin or to clothing, and is primarily used to protect against insect bites.
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Felidae
G. Fischer de Waldheim, 1817

Subfamilies

Felinae
Pantherinae
†Machairodontinae
Felidae is the biological family of the cats; a member of this family is called a felid.
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F. s. catus

Trinomial name
Felis silvestris catus
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms
Felis lybica invalid junior synonym
Felis catus invalid junior synonym[2]

The cat (
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catmint also known as "Faassen's Nepeta" or "Faassen's Catnip", is a hybrid species of garden origin grown as a ground cover, the cross has produced plants that have viable seeds. It has showy blue or white flowers and dark green foliage.
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Heredity (the adjective is hereditary
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refractory period is a period of time during which an organ or cell is incapable of repeating a particular action, or (more precisely) the amount of time it takes for an excitable membrane to be ready for a second stimulus once it returns to its resting state following an
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P. leo

Binomial name
Panthera leo
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Distribution of lions in Africa


Synonyms
Felis leo
(Linnaeus, 1758)

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