Ontario Weeds: Catnip
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Excerpt from Publication 505, Ontario Weeds, Order this publication
Table of Contents
- Name
- Other Names
- Family
- General Description
- Stems and Roots
- Flowers and Fruit
- Habitat
- Similar Species
- Related Links
Name: Catnip, Nepeta cataria
L.,
Other Names: herebe à chat, chataire,
népète chataire
Family: Mint Family (Labiatae)
General Description: Perennial, reproducing
by seed and by very short underground rhizomes.
Stems & Roots: Stems erect, 40-100cm
(16-40in.) high, square, densely white-hairy; leaves opposite (2
per node) on different sides of the square stem at successive nodes,
heart-shaped, longer than wide, densely covered with short, soft,
white hair, especially on the underside; margins coarsely toothed,
each tooth with rounded sides and a blunt point; petioles about
half as long as leaf blades;
Flowers & Fruit: Flowers dull
white, in dense, whorled clusters in axils of leaves near ends of
stems and branches; calyx short, tubular, of 5 united sepals forming
a short tube with 15 parallel veins and ending in 5 narrow, sharply
pointed soft teeth; corolla dull white with purplish dots, formed
from 5 united petals, 10-12mm (2/5-½in.) or sometimes longer
and about 6mm (¼in.) wide, irregular, trumpet-shaped but
2-lipped at the end, the upper lip with 2 lobes, the lower lip with
3 lobes; each flower producing a cluster of 4 nutlets ("seeds")
which are smooth, reddish-brown with 2 white spots at the lower
end. All parts of the plant have a characteristic odour resembling
mint, and the whole plant is frequently gray-green due to a dense
covering of fine white hair. Flowers from July to September.
Habitat: Catnip was widely cultivated
throughout Ontario and has escaped from cultivation in all parts
of the province so it now occurs in open forests, meadows, pastures,
waste places, roadsides, around buildings and in gardens.
Similar Species: It is distinguished by
its erect habit of growth, square stems, the opposite, stalked,
coarsely toothed, heart-shaped leaves, its dense, whorled clusters
of dull white flowers, its prominent trumpet-shaped 5-lobed corolla
about 12mm (½in.) or longer, and its distinctive odour that
is so attractive to cats.
Related Links
... on general Weed
topics
... on weed identification, order OMAFRA
Publication 505: Ontario Weeds
... on weed control, order OMAFRA
Publication 75: Guide To Weed Control
For more information:
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E-mail: ag.info.omafra@ontario.ca