Nepeta L.
Usually perennial, rarely annual, aromatic herbs, not rhizomatous. Lvs simple, dentate to deeply and jaggedly toothed. Verticels in lax or dense spike-like infls, usually bracteate. Fls ⚥ or unisexual. Calyx cylindric to ± campanulate, straight or curved, not gibbous at base, 15-nerved, 5-toothed. Corolla funnelform or cylindric-campanulate; tube slender, straight or curved, sometimes much exserted, glabrous inside; limb 2-lipped; upper lip short, ± straight, 2-lobed; lower lip spreading, 3-lobed. Stamens ± exserted, parallel, with the 2 outer posterior stamens longer; anther cells divergent. Style gynobasic, its branches equal. Nutlets smooth or variously rugose, oblong to subglobose.
Key
c. 250 spp., temperate Eurasia, Africa. Naturalised spp. 2.
