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Montana Field Guides

Catnip - Nepeta cataria
Other Names:  Catmint, Catwort

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Non-native Species

Global Rank: GNR
State Rank: SNA
C-value: 0


Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:


 

External Links

 
General Description
Taprooted perennial. Stems erect, 30–100 cm, usually branched above. Herbage puberulent to canescent, aromatic. Leaves petiolate; blades cordate, ovate to deltoid, serrate, 2–7 cm long. Inflorescence terminal, spike-like clusters of inconspicuously bracteate verticillasters. Flowers: calyx 15-veined, glandular-hirsute, 5–7 mm long, sometimes purplish, lobes narrow and unequal; corolla white, purple-spotted, hirsute, 8–12 mm long, bilabiate, the upper lip hood-like, lower lip reflexed down, the middle lobe largest; stamens 4, enclosed in the upper lip; style subequally lobed (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Species Range
Montana Range Range Descriptions

Non-native
 


Range Comments
Introduced to most of North America; native to Eurasia (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 119

(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version) Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density

Recency

 

(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)



Habitat
Fields, disturbed grasslands, around buildings, along roads and streams; plains, valleys (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Ecology
POLLINATORS
The following animal species have been reported as pollinators of this plant species or its genus where their geographic ranges overlap: Bombus vagans, Bombus fervidus, and Bombus impatiens (Colla and Dumesh 2010).

Management

References
  • Literature Cited AboveLegend:   View Online Publication
    • Colla, S.R. and S. Dumesh. 2010. The bumble bees of southern Ontario: notes on natural history and distribution. Journal of the Entomological Society of Ontario 141:39-68.
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 771 p.
  • Additional ReferencesLegend:   View Online Publication
    Do you know of a citation we're missing?
    • Boggs, K. W. 1984. Succession in riparian communities of the lower Yellowstone River, Montana. M.S. Thesis. Montana State University, Bozeman, 107 pp.
    • DuBois, K.L. 1979. An inventory of the avifauna in the Long Pines of Southeastern Montana. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 113 p.
    • Eggers, M.J.S. 2005. Riparian vegetation of the Montana Yellowstone and cattle grazing impacts thereon. M.Sc. Thesis. Montana State University, Bozeman, MT. 125 p.
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2022. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants, Second Edition. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 779 p.
    • Sater, S. 2022. The insects of Sevenmile Creek, a pictorial guide to their diversity and ecology. Undergraduate Thesis. Helena, MT: Carroll College. 242 p.
    • Seipel, T.F. 2006. Plant species diversity in the sagebrush steppe of Montana. M.Sc. Thesis. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 87 p.
    • Wood, A.K. 1987. Ecology of a prairie mule deer population. Ph.D. Dissertation. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 205 p.
  • Web Search Engines for Articles on "Catnip"
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Citation for data on this website:
Catnip — Nepeta cataria.  Montana Field Guide.  .  Retrieved on , from