Family: Lamiaceae

Origin, Description & Uses
Nepeta cataria, commonly known as catnip, catwort, or catmint, is a fragrant perennial herb in the mint family native to southern Europe across temperate Asia to Japan, as well as northwestern Morocco. This plant typically grows upright with soft, gray-green leaves and small white to pale lavender flowers that attract bees and other pollinators. Catnip is widely cultivated as an ornamental and culinary herb and is best known for the stimulating effect its aromatic oils have on many cats. It has also been used traditionally in herbal teas and folk remedies and is valued in gardens for its drought tolerance and ability to attract beneficial insects.

Risks & Threats
Although Nepeta cataria is currently not known to be naturalized in the Hawaiian Islands, it possesses traits that are cause for concern and could detrimentally impact tropical island ecosystems if it escapes cultivation. Like many members of the mint family, catnip can reproduce readily by seed and may spread beyond intended planting areas under favorable conditions. Its adaptability, rapid growth, and attractiveness to pollinators could allow it to establish in disturbed habitats, where it may compete with native vegetation. Because island ecosystems are especially vulnerable to invasive plants, Plant Pono recommends choosing a low risk or native alternative when such alternatives are available.

High Risk Traits:

• Elevation range exceeds 1000 m, demonstrating environmental versatility
  
• Can grow in tropical climates
  
• Widely naturalized (but no evidence in Hawaiian Islands]
  
• Weedy in gardens and disturbed habitats
  
• Other Nepeta species are invasive
  
• Potentially allelopathic
  
• Unpalatable to browsing animals
  
• Tolerates many soil types
  
• Reproduces by seeds and vegetatively
  
• Self-compatible
  
• Small seeds dispersed inadvertently as a contaminant, and along heavily trafficked areas; also intentionally cultivated
  
• Seeds able to be stored for extended periods; May form a persistent seed bank

Low Risk Traits:

• Unarmed (no spines, thorns or burrs)
  
• Cultivated intentionally for medicinal effects on cats
  
• Herbicides and mowing may provide effective control