Catnip essay essays

Catnip essay essays Catnip is not only used to help cats amuse themselves; it has many other uses to. It is an herb found in medicines and helps warn off mosquitoes. You can even grow it in your own home. Catnip can help you in your daily life when you learn how to use it correctly. It would be great to grow in an herb garden but, dont mistake it for a weed. Nepta Cataria (catnip) is a perennial plant belonging to the mint family. It is a native of Eurasia that went wild and now flourishes everywhere. It grows about two feet tall and has sturdy stems bearing furry, heart shaped, grayish-green leaves. The flowers are white or lilac and occur in several clusters toward the tips of the branch. Many people like the way it looks and smells and like to grow it themselves. It is easily grown in any garden soil, with little care because it does not require the moisture that other mint plants need. The seed should be planted very thinly in rows twenty inches apart and the seedlings thinned out twenty inches apart in the rows. A bed will last several years. Bruised or recently transplanted plants are most likely to get eaten by cats. The herb is harvested in middle to late summer, late in the morning when all dew is gone. The leaves are stripped from the stems and dried as soon as possible. It is then used for many different types of things. Catnip has many uses; one of which we all know it is a harmless high for felines and is used in cat toys. Loins, pumas, leopards and house cats bite, chew and roll into catnip to release the irresistible, intoxicating oil trapped in the leaves. How ever if your cat eats the stem or leaves off of the plant it will result in behavioral changes making it act drunk or wild. They may also vomit or have diarrhea. Not long ago researchers found out that nepetalactone, the oil that cats react to is ten times more effective than DEET- the compound in most commercial insect repellents ...