From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nepeta is a genus of about 250 species of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. The members of
this group are known as catnip or
catmint because of their effect on cats—nepeta pleasantly stimulates cats' pheromonic receptors,
typically resulting in temporary euphoria.
According to traditional herb medicine, catnip tends to have a
sedative effect on humans.[1]
The genus is native to Europe, Asia,
and Africa. It is now also
common in North
America.[2] 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 and spotted with tiny purple
dots.
Uses
Oil isolated from catnip by steam distillation is a repellent
against insects, in particular mosquitoes, cockroaches and
termites.[3][4]
Research suggests that in a test tube, distilled nepetalactone, the
active ingredient in catnip, repels mosquitoes ten times more
effectively than DEET, the active
ingredient in most insect repellents,[5][6] but
that it is not as effective a repellent when used on the skin.[7]
Additionally, catnip and catnip-laced products designed for use
with domesticated cats are available to consumers.
Effects on
cats
Catnip and catmints are mainly known for the behavioral effects
they have on cats,
particularly domestics.[8] 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, or
heavily salivate. Some will growl, meow, scratch, or bite the hand holding it.
Some cats will eat dried catnip. Often, eating too much can cause
cats to be overtly aggressive, typically making them hiss.
A domestic cat demonstrating the effects of catnip such as rolling,
pawing, and frisking
About two thirds of cats are susceptible to catnip.[9] The
phenomenon is hereditary; for example, most Australian
cats do not react to it.[10]
There is some disagreement about the susceptibility of lions and tigers to catnip.[10]
Catnip has nepetalactone, a terpene. Nepetalactone can be extracted from
catnip by steam distillation.[11] Cats
detect it through their olfactory epithelium, not through
their vomeronasal organ.[12] At
the olfactory epithelium, the
nepetalactone binds to one or more olfactory receptors where it
probably mimics a cat pheromone, such as the hypothetical
feline facial
pheromone or the cat urine odorant MMB.
Other plants that also have this effect on cats include valerian
(Valeriana officinalis) and plants that contain actinidine or dihydroactinidiolide (Smith,
2005).
Species
Nepeta curviflora flowers
- Nepeta
cataria (Catnip, True Catnip, Catmint or Field Balm) is a
50–100 cm tall perennial herb
resembling mint in appearance,
with greyish-green leaves; the flowers are white, finely spotted with purple.
It has been introduced to many countries, 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.
- 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 hindost
- 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
|
References
- ^
"All About Catnip". Cat-World. http://www.cat-world.com.au/Catnip.htm. Retrieved March 14,
2009.
- ^
Leon L. Bram, editorial director,
Robert S. Phillips, editor-in-chief, Norma H. Dickey, special
projects editor-in-chief. (1983). Funk & Wagnalls New
Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. New York: Funk &
Wagnalls. ISBN
0-8343-0051-6.
- ^
Schultz, Gretchen; Peterson, Chris;
Coats, Joel (May 25, 2006). "Natural Insect Repellents:
Activity against Mosquitoes and Cockroaches". in Rimando, Agnes
M.; Duke, Stephen O.. Natural Products for Pest
Management. ACS Symposium Series. American Chemical
Society. http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/ja/ja_schultz001.pdf.
- ^
"Termites Repelled by Catnip Oil". Southern
Research Station, United States Department of Agriculture – Forest
Service. March 26, 2003. http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/news/110.
- ^
Dennis Loney (2001-08-28). "Mosquito Repellents". American Chemical Society.
Archived from the original on 26 April
2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20060426234808/http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/feature_ent.html?id=4acf6768ce1b11d5f2944fd8fe800100. Retrieved
2007-08-28.
- ^
Kingsley, Danny (September 3, 2001). "Catnip sends mozzies
flying". ABC Science Online.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/health/HealthRepublish_355524.htm. Retrieved February 14,
2009.
- ^
Chauhan, K.R.; Klun, Jerome A.;
Debboun, Mustapha; Kramer, Matthew (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.
- ^
Grognet J (June 1990). "Catnip: Its uses and
effects, past and present". Can. Vet. J.
31 (6): 455–456. PMID 17423611. PMC 1480656. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=1480656&blobtype=pdf.
- ^
Turner, Ramona (May 29, 2007). "How does catnip work its
magic on cats?". Scientific American. http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=experts-how-does-catnip-work-on-cats. Retrieved February 14,
2009.
- ^ a
b
Durand, Marcella (March 4, 2003). "Heavenly Catnip".
CatsPlay.com. http://www.catsplay.com/thedailycat/2003-04-14/mind_happycat/heavenly_catnip/heavenly_catnip.html. Retrieved February 14,
2009.
- ^
"DIY Kitty Crack: ultra-potent
catnip extract". Instructables. June 3, 2007. http://www.instructables.com/id/EMDCESQF2DSDRAG/. Retrieved February 14,
2009.
- ^
Hart, Benjamin L.; Leedy, Mitzi G.
(July 1985). "Analysis of the catnip reaction: mediation by
olfactory system, not vomeronasal organ". Behavioral and neural
biology 44 (1): 38–46. doi:10.1016/S0163-1047(85)91151-3. PMID 3834921.
Further
reading
External
links
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
