Cat-mint
Scientific name: Nepeta cataria L.
Diagnostic features Plant softly densely grey-pubescent. Stems erect, to 1m. Leaves ovate, cordate at base, the lower usually 4cm or more. Whorls densely crowded into terminal inflorescences. Corolla white with small purple spots, the tube shorter than calyx.
Chromosome number: 2n=34, 36.
Habitat Probably native; open grassland, waysides, rough ground on calcareous soils.
Distribution Rather scattered in England and Wales, once more common, rarely naturalized or casual in Ireland.
This species is keyed out on Page 3127: Nepeta in the Text Key. |