Nepeta cataria is a member of the mint family. It has attractive flowers, pale pink at first and white on the inside, purple when they are mature. This adaptable, easy-to-grow herb can grow up to a metre tall. It is native to Europe but has been introduced to the USA, where it is grown in domestic gardens.
The common name comes from its effects on cat behaviour. Cats can be excited by a chemical secreted by the plant, called nepetalactone. See http://tinyurl.com/q78gbx to watch how domestic cats can be affected by the plant, and http://tinyurl.com/267dm2h to see how big cats, including lions and tigers, can show the same bizarre behaviour in response to this chemical. Not all cats are affected — susceptibility is an inherited trait, governed by a dominant allele — but those that are often show ‘smiling’ behaviour when they rub against the plant. This is because the receptors for nepetalactone are in the vomeronasal organ (see Figure 1). This organ consists of two sacs, connected to both the mouth and nasal cavity by narrow ducts. When the cat ‘smiles’ it pulls its gums back from its teeth and so presses its tongue against the roof of its mouth. This forces the plant odours into the organ. This is where receptors detect the nepetalactone and send an impulse to the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that links the nervous system to the endocrine system, exciting the cat.
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