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Catnip (Nepeta cataria) — also called Catnep, Catswort and Catmint in traditional sources.
Materia Medica
Family: Lamiaceae (mint family)
Botanical name: Nepeta cataria L.
Common names: Catnip, Catnep, Catswort, Catmint (a common name also used for other Nepeta species)
Plant part used: Leaves and flowering aerial tops, fresh or dried
Growth habit: Aromatic perennial herb
Primary traditions: European and North American household herbalism; aromatic teas and animal enrichment
Actions & Energetics
Catnip is classed in Western herbal traditions as a gently aromatic carminative, diaphoretic, mild nervine and household digestive herb. Herbal energetics commonly describes the minty, slightly bitter leaf as relaxing and dispersing. These are traditional classifications, not independently established clinical indications.
Botanical Description
The branched upright plant commonly reaches 1–3 feet (30–90 cm). Stems are four-angled and downy. Opposite, stalked, broadly ovate to heart-shaped leaves have scalloped-toothed margins, a softly hairy, gray-green underside and a pungent mint-like fragrance. Small two-lipped flowers, whitish with pale lavender or purple markings, form whorled clusters toward the flowering stem tips. Seeds form as four small nutlets within the persistent calyx. The plant is a perennial that dies back to the crown in a Midwest winter.
Name Confusion & Look-Alikes
The name catmint may refer to Nepeta cataria or ornamental species such as Nepeta × faassenii. The showy lavender-flowered ornamental catmints do not automatically have the same traditional herbal use, volatile-oil profile or foliage characteristics. Lemon-scented forms of catnip also occur. Verification relies on the botanical name, hairy square stems, opposite serrated leaves and flowering details rather than fragrance alone.
Traditional Indications
European and North American herbal records describe catnip leaf or flowering-top infusions for nervous restlessness, digestive spasm and flatulence, mild sleeplessness, colds with sweating, and the household management of childhood colic or fever. These are historical uses; their presence in an old herbal is not proof of clinical efficacy. Some older materia medica describes the plant as an emmenagogue (an herb associated with menstruation). Modern human trials do not establish catnip as a treatment for these conditions.