A hardy perennial, 30-90 cm (1-3 ft.) tall, it has coarse-textured, ovate, grey-green leaves, with serrated edges. Pale-mauve flowers in terminal or axillary whorls are borne from midsummer to autumn. The whole plant has a strong, antiseptic, mint like odor, similar to pennyroyal.<\/p>\n
This herb often proves irresistible to cats. It is mildly hallucinogenic, which could be the attraction, but another theory is that the plant has overtones of tomcats\u2019 urine and is associated with courtship behavior. It is also said to be hated by rats. Chewing the root is reputed to make humans aggressive, and one old British story recalls that a reluctant hangman used it to give him courage to carry out his duties. There are references to its medicinal properties in old herbals, it was occasionally used for flavoring, and found its way into herbal tobaccos, but it does not seem to be widely used today, except perhaps to make toys for cats.<\/p>\n
Catmint prefers moist soil and a sunny position. Propagated by root division in spring or autumn by cuttings in summer.<\/p>\n
Leaves and flowering stems dried or fresh.<\/p>\n
Catmint lowers fever, increases perspiration and is mildly sedative. It is sometimes taken as an infusion for feverish colds, influenza, nervous tension, anxiety and gastric upsets, or applied externally to cuts and bruises.<\/p>\n
It makes a stimulating, minty tea.<\/p>\n
The dried herb is used to stuff toys for cats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A hardy perennial, 30-90 cm (1-3 ft.) tall, it has coarse-textured, ovate, grey-green leaves, with serrated edges. Pale-mauve flowers in terminal or axillary whorls are borne from midsummer to autumn. The whole plant has a strong, antiseptic, mint like odor, similar to pennyroyal. History and traditions This herb often proves irresistible to cats. It is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[109,111,102,115,97,92,138,105,110,98,127,160,122,103,149,113,114,118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-acidic-soil","category-alkaline-soil","category-clay-soil","category-fall","category-full","category-herb","category-herbaceous-perennial","category-loamy-soil","category-neutral-soil","category-partial","category-perennial","category-perennial-plant-type","category-purple","category-sandy-soil","category-shallow-rocky","category-spring","category-summer","category-white"],"meta_box":{"botanical-name":"Nepeta cataria","common-names":"Catmint, Catnip, Catswort","family":"Lamiaceae","flower_bloom_time":[{"term_id":115,"name":"Fall","slug":"fall","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":115,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":112,"count":46,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":113,"name":"Spring","slug":"spring","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":113,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":112,"count":96,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":114,"name":"Summer","slug":"summer","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":114,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":112,"count":163,"filter":"raw"}],"flower_color":[{"term_id":122,"name":"Purple","slug":"purple","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":122,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":116,"count":60,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":118,"name":"White","slug":"white","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":118,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":116,"count":113,"filter":"raw"}],"plant_life_cycle":[{"term_id":127,"name":"Perennial","slug":"perennial","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":127,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":84,"count":133,"filter":"raw"}],"plant_types":[{"term_id":92,"name":"Herb","slug":"herb","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":92,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":88,"count":79,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":138,"name":"Herbaceous Perennial","slug":"herbaceous-perennial","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":138,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":88,"count":56,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":127,"name":"Perennial","slug":"perennial","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":127,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":84,"count":133,"filter":"raw"}],"soil_ph":[{"term_id":109,"name":"Acidic Soil","slug":"acidic-soil","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":109,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":108,"count":148,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":111,"name":"Alkaline Soil","slug":"alkaline-soil","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":111,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":108,"count":117,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":110,"name":"Neutral Soil","slug":"neutral-soil","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":110,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":108,"count":158,"filter":"raw"}],"soil_type":[{"term_id":102,"name":"Clay Soil","slug":"clay-soil","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":102,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":101,"count":108,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":105,"name":"Loamy Soil","slug":"loamy-soil","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":105,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":101,"count":179,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":103,"name":"Sandy Soil","slug":"sandy-soil","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":103,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":101,"count":147,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":149,"name":"Shallow Rocky","slug":"shallow-rocky","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":149,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":101,"count":14,"filter":"raw"}],"sun_exposure":[{"term_id":97,"name":"Full","slug":"full","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":97,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":96,"count":197,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":98,"name":"Partial","slug":"partial","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":98,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":96,"count":126,"filter":"raw"}],"usda_hardiness_zones":"Zone: 3 - 9","region_or_country_of_origin":"Europe and Asia","plant_mature_size":"
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