Lamiaceae

Catnip

Nepeta cataria L.

Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Nepeta

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Catnip (Nepeta cataria) — FlowerPhoto: Alex Abair, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist

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Common names

By language (53)

Afrikaans: Kattekruid
Arabic: قطرم حقيقي, القرطم, حشيشة الهر, فاقذنج جبلي, قطرم الهر, قططي, لسان اللوز, محم زائف
arz: قطرم حقيقى
Asturian: Yerba los gatos
Azerbaijani: Adi pişiknanəsi
Basque: Katu-belar
Belarusian: Кацямятка каціная
Bosnian: Macina trava
Bulgarian: Обикновена коча билка
Catalan: Herba gatera, Nepta
Chinese: 荆芥, 貓薄荷, 凉薄荷, 土荆芥, 大茴香, 小荆芥, 小薄荷, 巴毛
Croatian: Prava mačja metvica
cv: Кушак пӳсĕр курăкĕ
Czech: Šanta kočičí
Danish: Almindelig Katteurt
Dutch: Wild kattenkruid, Wilde kattenkruid
English: Catnip, Catswort, Or catmint, Cat-mint, Catmint
Esperanto: Katario, Katherbo, Katminto
Estonian: Harilik naistenõges
Finnish: Aitokissanminttu, Kissanminttu
French: Cataire, Herbe aux chats, Catnip, Chataire, Menthe aux chats, Menthe des chats
Galician: Herba gateira, Gateira, Herba do gato, Nébeda
German: Echte Katzenminze, Gewöhnliche Katzenminze, Katzenminze
Greek: Νεπέτα
hsb: Prawy kocornik
Hungarian: Illatos macskamenta
Indonesian: Kucingan
Japanese: イヌハッカ, キャットニップ
Korean: 개박하
Latvian: Kaķumētra
lfn: Menta gateta
Lithuanian: Paprastoji katžolė
Macedonian: Мачкино нане, Мачкина трева
Malay: Kucingan
Malayalam: കാറ്റ്നിപ്പ്
Norwegian Bokmål: Kattemynte, Nepata
pcd: Iérpe-éd-cat
Persian: نعناع گربهای
Polish: Kocimiętka właściwa
Portuguese: Catnip, Erva-de-gato, Erva-gateira
Romanian: Cătușnică, Iarba mâțului, Iarba-mâței, Minta-mâței
Russian: Котовник кошачий, Кошачья мята
Serbian: Mačija trava, Macina metvica, Macina trava, Mačija metvica, Potplotuša
Slovak: Kocúrnik obyčajný
Slovenian: Mačja meta
Spanish: Albahaca de gatos, Alhabaca, Catnip, Gatera alta, Hierba gatera, Menta gatuna, Yerba del asmatico, Yerba del asmático
Swedish: Kattmynta
Tamil: பூனைக்கு பிடித்தமான செடி
Thai: กัญชาแมว
Turkish: Kedi nanesi, Nezle otu
Uzbek: Zufo
Vietnamese: Bạc hà mèo
Welsh: Mintys y gath

Synonyms

Calamintha albiflora Vaniot
Cataria tomentosa Gilib.
Cataria vulgaris Gaterau
Glechoma cataria (L.) Kuntze
Glechoma macrura (Ledeb. ex Spreng.) Kuntze
Nepeta americana Vitman
Nepeta bodinieri Vaniot
Nepeta cataria f. laurentii (Sennen) Font Quer
Nepeta cataria var. canescens Sennen
Nepeta cataria var. citriodora Dumoulin ex Lej.
Nepeta ceretana Sennen
Nepeta citriodora (Dumoulin ex Lej.) Dumort.
Nepeta laurentii Sennen
Nepeta macrura Ledeb. ex Spreng.
Nepeta minor Mill.
Nepeta mollis Salisb.
Nepeta ruderalis Boiss.
Nepeta tomentosa Vitman
Nepeta vulgaris Lam.

Flowers

In flower: July to August (from 1,151 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)

Characteristics

Growth habit: Forb/herb
Lifespan: Perennial
In the US and Canada: Alaska: introduced, Canada: introduced, Lower 48 states: introduced

Photos

FlowerPhoto: Alex Abair, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: daksu, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: Kallum McDonald, CC0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: Katie Pearson, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Balles2601, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Amy MacPherson, CC BY-SA 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/calliope/, CC BY 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Jes Gray, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Joshua Mayer from Madison, WI, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Ryan Hodnett, CC BY-SA 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Joshua Mayer from Madison, WI, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Joshua Mayer from Madison, WI, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons

More in Nepeta

Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.