922 Cats: Botannical Question, Or, Google This

Sunday, June 18, 2006

What is the difference between catnip and catmint - which I had always believed was just the British way of saying nip...

Emrah said...: Still complicated though, but here is what www.beyond-the-illusion.com says:

Nepeta cataria is usually referred to as catnip, the one most people
(and cats) know. But to confuse the issue, some books also refer to it as catmint.

Nepeta mussinii and N. x faassenii are smaller, greyer, somewhat sweeter smelling plants which are often called catmint (mint probably because they are lower and they spread). They also have blue flowers. (We call the
latter "Faassen's Catnip" just to confuse the situation further).

According to articles posted here earlier, the catmints seem to attract certain cats, though not all. Many, but not all, are attracted to the true catnip, and even to the lemon version (N. cataria ssp. citriodora).

The cat thyme (Teucrium marum) is a different animal altogether. Some cats, apparently, thinV{ the world for this one, though I have never seen any go after it.

*****

Catmint and Catnip are the same genus but different species, as follows:

Garden Catmint is Nepeta faassenii, Perennial Catmint is Nepeta mussinii and Catnip, also known as Wild Catmint, is Nepeta cataria. There is also a Lemon
Catnip, Nepeta cataria citriodora.; 11:38 PM
Lizzy said...: Thank you, Emrah! Having just potted 2 catnips and 1 catmint - which I had never seen before - I can say that the leaf of choice for my guys was definitely the nip... (This was a FRESH catnip first for Cloud and Cyrano, and Cyrrie especially went totally nuts!); 9:39 AM