Nepeta nepetella

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Nepeta nepetella
Lamiaceae - Nepeta nepetella.JPG
Nepeta nepetella at Orto Botanico dell'Università di Genova
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Nepeta
Species:
N. nepetella
Binomial name
Nepeta nepetella
L.
Synonyms [1]
  • Cataria nepetella(L.) Moench
  • Glechoma nepetella(L.) Kuntze
  • Nepeta aragonensisLam.
  • Nepeta amethystinaDesf. ex Poir.
  • Nepeta civitianaPau
  • Nepeta ceballosiiVicioso & Pau
  • Nepeta almeriensisSennen
  • Nepeta hieronymiSennen
  • Nepeta murcicaGuirão ex Willk.
  • Nepeta imbricataLag. ex Spreng.
  • Nepeta mallophoraWebb & Heldr.
  • Nepeta angustifoliaMill.
  • Nepeta lanceolataLam.
  • Nepeta graveolensVill.
  • Nepeta humilisSalisb.
  • Nepeta arragonensisBenth.
  • Nepeta delphinensisMutel
  • Nepeta longicaulisDufour
  • Cataria tenuifoliaBubani
  • Nepeta catalaunicaSennen

Nepeta nepetella, common name lesser cat-mint, [2] is a low-growing species of catnip belonging to the family Lamiaceae. It is native to France, Spain, Italy, Algeria, and Morocco. [1] [3]

Contents

Subspecies [1]
  1. Nepeta nepetella subsp. aragonensis(Lam.) Nyman - Spain, Algeria, Morocco
  2. Nepeta nepetella subsp. laciniata(Willk.) Aedo - Sierra Nevada of southern Spain
  3. Nepeta nepetella subsp. murcica(Guirão ex Willk.) Aedo - Morocco, southern Spain
  4. Nepeta nepetella subsp. nepetella - Pyrenees, western Alps, + Apennines of Spain, France, Italy

Description

Nepeta nepetella can reach a height of 40–80 centimetres (16–31 in). This perennial very variable plant has usually green crenate leaves and produces in summer spikes with bluish-violet small flowers about 1–81.2 centimetres (0.39–31.97 in) long. [4] [5]

Uses

Nepetella, as it is commonly called (other names include nepeta, nepitella) is used in Tuscan cooking, often for mushrooms and artichokes. [6] [7] Due to the difficulty in obtaining nepetella, many recipes have been rewritten to contain oregano and mint.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant families
  2. BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  3. "Nepeta nepetella [Gattaia minore] - Flora Italiana". luirig.altervista.org.
  4. "Home". Alpine Garden Society.
  5. Zicha, Ondrej. "BioLib: Biological library". www.biolib.cz.
  6. "Nepetella". www.ortoricci.it. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  7. "Mentuccia, nepetella o nepitella? Facciamo un po' di chiarezza". Valfrutta (in Italian). Retrieved 14 May 2020.