2130 



NEPENTHES 



NEPETA 



var. pulchra. N. robusto=N. Hookeriana X N. Phyllamphora. G. C. 

 II. 14:41. F. 1880, p. 156. N. ru/escens=N. distillatoria var. rubra 

 X N. Courtii. A rare and rather unattractive hybrid. G. C. III. 4: 

 669. N. Siebrechtiana=N . Phyllamphora X N. Sedenii. N. Sim- 

 ontt=N. Northiana X N. mixta. N. splendida=N. Hookeriana X 

 N. Phyllamphora. N. Stewartii='N. Hookeriana X N. Phyllam- 

 phora. F. 1879, p. 157. N. supr&o=N. Sedenii X N. Hookeriana. 

 G. Z. 25:145. N. Vattitrx=N. TiveyixN. mixta. N. Wrigley- 

 dna=N. Hookeriana X N. Phyllamphora. G. C. II. 17:143. 



J. M. MACFARLANE. 



NEPETA (Latin, perhaps from Nepete, an Etru- 

 rian city) . Labiatse. This group includes catnip, ground 

 ivy and some other hardy perennial herbs of the easiest 

 culture. 



Perennial or annual herbs, tall and erect, or dwarf 

 and more or less trailing: Ivs. dentate or incised, the 



2466. Leaf of catnip. 



2467. Catnip. 

 Nepeta Cataria. 



(X3) 



floral ones like the rest or reduced to bracts: whorls of 

 fls. crowded in a dense spike, or in a loose cyme, rarely 

 few-fld. and axillary; fls. blue or white, seldom yellow; 

 calyx 15-nerved; corolla somewhat 2-lipped; upper lip 

 straight or erect; lower lip spreading, 3-lobed, with the 

 large center lobe concave; perfect stamens 4, in pairs, 

 the 2 shorter ones in front; ovary 4-parted. The genus 

 is placed near Lopanthus and Dracocephalum, and is 

 characterized as follows: calyx tubular, the mouth 

 straight or oblique, 5-toothed; stamens usually parallel, 

 ascending; anther-cells divergent or divaricate. 

 About 150 species, mostly in the northern hemisphere 

 outside the Old World tropics. 



Catnip is a familiar weed near dwellings and barns. 

 Cats are fond of it, and catnip tea is a pungent memory 

 with those who have survived the era of homely simples. 

 The seeds of catnip are still offered. Ground ivy (N. 

 hederacea) also grows wild in America, and a form of 

 it with variegated foliage is cultivated for edging 

 flower-beds or covering banks and stones. It is hardy 

 in light well-drained soils, but sometimes winter-kills 

 in moist soils. It is also used in vases and baskets. N. 

 hederacea is a perennial creeping plant of easy culture 

 in any loose, rich, fairly moist soil in either shade or 

 full sunlight, but to be luxuriant in the open it should 

 have a moist rootage. It is a very rapid grower, and is 

 therefore often troublesome when planted with other 

 low-growing plants. It is very useful as a ground-cov- 

 ering in shrubbery borders and shady places generally, 

 particularly where it can hang over curbs or edgings 

 or where a good sward cannot be secured. 



A. Blossoms small, rather inconspicuous, 

 B. Color of fls. white or nearly so. 



Cataria, Linn. CATNIP or CATNEP. CATMINT. Figs. 

 2466, 2467. Perennial, densely downy, pale green: st. 

 rather stout, tall and erect: Ivs. heart-shaped, green 

 above, whitish below, crenate, stalked: corolla nearly 

 white, or pale purple, dark-dotted. Blooms from July- 

 Nov. Eu., Orient. 



BB. Color of fls. blue. 



hederacea, Trev. (N. Glechdma, Benth. Glecoma 

 hederacea, Linn.). GROUND IVY. GILL -OVER- THE- 

 GROTJND. FIELD BALM. Fig. 2468. Perennial, hairy: 

 creeping sts. leafy, making a dense mat: lys. roundish, 

 more deeply notched at the base than catnip, and green 

 on both sides, the floral ones like the others, not re- 

 duced to bracts as in the other kinds here described ; 

 lower petioles longer than the Ivs.: whorls axillary, 

 few-fld., blue. Nat. from Eu., Asia. C.L.A. 23:57. 

 B.B. 3:87. G.W. 9, pp. 244, 245; 13, p. 5587-Other 

 old vernacular names are alehoof, cat's-foot, gill, gill- 

 ale, gill-go-by-the-ground, hayhofe, haymaids, hove, 

 tunhoof, creeping charlie, robin-run-away, gill-runover, 

 crow-vituals, wild snake-root, hedge-maids. March- 

 June. The green-lvd. form is less cult, than var. 

 variegata, Hort. (N. hederacea, Trev., var. variegata, 

 Hort,). 



AA. Blossoms larger, showy, blue. 



B. Lvs. not notched at the base. 



macrantha, Fisch. Erect plant, branching, nearly 

 glabrous: Ivs. short-stalked, ovate-lanceolate, green on 

 both sides: cymes peduncled, few-fld.; fls. 1 in. long; 

 bracts minute. Altai. B.M. 2185 (as Dracocephalum 

 sibiricum). Prop, by division of underground sts. 



Wilsonii, Duthie. Allied to N. macrantha: herba- 

 ceous perennial, 2-2 ^ ft. high: Ivs. shortly stalked, 

 the upper subsessile, ovate-oblong, 2%-3% in. long, 

 obtuse, crenate: fls. in distant whorls, short-stalked; 

 corolla violet, about 1 in. long, with a slender tube 

 white at the base, curved and enlarged above. W. 

 China. 



BB. Lvs. notched at base. 



c. Fls. pedicelled. 



grandiflora, Bieb. (N. melissxfdlia, Pers.). Height 

 20 in. or more: plant nearly glabrous, green: st. erect 

 and branching: Ivs. short-petioled, large, long, heart- 

 shaped, crenate-margined : corolla with upper segm. 

 awl-shaped, much shorter than the violet, hairy lower 

 segm.; calyx-lobes long pointed; fls. beautiful blue. 

 Known in gardens as N. argentea, Hort., N. grdndis, 

 Hort., N. incana, Hort., N. teucrioldes, Hort. Summer. 

 Caucasus. 



2468. Nepeta hederacea about 

 a tree trunk. 



