Name/Όνομα: Νεπέτα του Τροόδους
Scientific name/Επιστημονικό όνομα: Nepeta troodi Holmboe.
Common name/Κοινό όνομα: Catmint
Family/Οικογένεια: LAMIACEAE
Description
Plant: Perennial aromatic herb reaching 50cm tall.
Stems: Erect, ascending or sprawling, much-branched at the base, unbranched or sparingly branched above, tetragonal, pale green, densely covered with a mixture of long white and short glandular hairs.
Leaves: Opposite, simple, petiolate, deltoid, cordate at base, obtuse at apex, blade rough and wrinkled, pubescent, margins crenate, petiole pubescent, channeled above.
Flowers: Zygomorphic and hermaphrodite, in lax, many-flowered distant whorls, along to an elongate flowering axon; lower bracts spreading, leaf-like, upper bracts lanceolate, pointed; bracteoles linear with glandular hairs; calyx tubular, straight or curved, 2-lipped, 5-toothed, teeth unequal, lanceolate, green, with glandular and non-glandular hairs externally, glabrous internally; corolla 2-lipped, 3-lobed below, 2-lobed above; upper lip semi-erect, broadly oblong, whitish, lobes almost rounded, pubescent externally; lower lip dotted with lavender spots, lateral lobes semi-circular, median lobe bigger, somewhat concave, nearly semicircular, with long white hairs at the upper part internally and a mixture of glandular and non-glandular hairs externally, margins strongly wavy or irregularly toothed, sometimes pendulous (hanging); stamens 4 ( 2 pairs), the upper longer, filaments parallel, white, glabrous above, thinly hairy at the lower half, anthers dark purple, exserted; ovary superior, style whitish, longer than stamens, glabrous, exserted, stigma 2-lobed, lobes purplish, equal.
Flowering time: June-October.
Fruit: 4 nutlets.
Habitat: Rocky ground, pine forests, from 900-1950m alt
Native: Endemic to Cyprus.
