Nepeta sibirica L.

Source of an essential oil. Cultivated as an ornamental.

Herbs perennial. Stems numerous, ca. 40 cm, puberulent, glandular. Petiole 3-7 mm, 1.5-1.7 cm in basal leaves; leaf blade triangular-oblong to triangular-lanceolate, 3.4-9 × 1.2-2.2 cm, adaxially sparsely puberulent, abaxially densely yellow glandular, veins pubescent, base shallowly cordate, margin denticulate, apex acute. Verticillasters lax, on apical part of stem, 9-15 cm; peduncle 5-8 mm; bracts linear, 2.5-3 mm, pubescent, ciliate. Pedicel ca. 1 mm. Calyx 9-10 mm, densely glandular pubescent, throat very oblique; teeth joined for 1/3-1/2 their length, lanceolate-triangular, apex acuminate; teeth of lower lip separated to base, longer, narrower, apex acute. Corolla blue or bluish, 2-2.9 cm, sparsely pubescent; tube nearly straight, narrow, abruptly dilated into throat ca. 6 × 6 mm; lobes of upper lip ca. 1/2 as long as upper lip, elliptic, apex obtuse; middle lobe of lower lip reniform, deeply sinuate, margin coarsely crenate; lateral lobes ovate to ovate-triangular. Nutlets unknown. Fl. Aug-Sep.

Gansu, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai [Mongolia, Russia]

Hillsides; 1800-2700 m.

Dracocephalum sibiricum (Linnaeus) Linnaeus; Moldavica elata Moench; M. sibirica (Linnaeus) Moench ex Steudel; Nepeta macrantha Fischer.

Nepeta sibirica, the Siberian catmint, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae, native to Siberia.

Growing to 1 m (3.3 ft) tall by 1.5 m (4.9 ft) broad, it is an erect aromatic herbaceous perennial with whorls of violet flowers for an extended period in summer. The synonym Dracocephalum sibiricum indicates the shape of the flowers, which resemble a dragon's head.

It prefers a well-drained, moist soil in a sunny southerly or westerly aspect.

The cultivar 'Souvenir d'André Chaudon' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.