Nepeta cataria
AKA: nep, catmint, cat’s fancy, cat’s wort, catrup, field balm
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Historically Used to Treat: headache, digestion problems, cramps, coughs, bruises, hemorrhoids, gas, women’s reproductive problems, eye problems
Other Uses: Catnip is named for its intoxicating influence on felines. It is also beloved by bees. It’s a member of the mint family. It also repels certain insects, like aphids and squash bugs.[1]
70% of cats - including big cats like lions and tigers! - carry the genetic trait that makes them respond to catnip’s effects.
Of Catmint specifically, Culpeper only says:
“Cattaria, Nepeta. Nep, or Catmints. The virtues are the same with Calaminth.” [234]
Culpeper lists Calaminth as having the following properties [263-264]: Heats the Breast, Heats the Womb, Provokes the Terms, Resists Poison, & Eases Pain.
and
“Calamintha, Montana, Palustris. Mountain and Water Calamint: For the Water Calamint: see mints, than which it is accounted stronger. Mountain Calamint, is hot and dry in the third degree, provokes urine and the menses, hastens the birth in women, brings away the placenta, helps cramps, convulsions, difficulty of breathing, kills worms, helps the dropsy: outwardly used, it helps such as hold their necks on one side: half a dram is enough at one time. Galen, Dioscorides, Apuleius” [233]
