History of catnip

From Europe to China, catnip has been used medicinally for at least 2000 years. It also has been used as a tea and tonic. The plant was familiar to Roman cooks and doctors. 

Catnip was popular beverage tea in pre-Elizabeth England. In France the young leaves of this herb have been used as a seasoning.

During the Age of Exploration, catnip was replaced by the more stimulating Chinese herb that people call tea (Camellia sinensis sp)

Catnip came to America along with other necessities for pioneer living. America’s first geographer listed it in 1796 as a commercial crop.

It escaped cultivation and invaded the landscape. Early Americans believed that catnip roots made even the kindest person mean. Hangmen used to consume the roots before executions to get in the mood for their work.

It even worked its way into American literature appearing in the writings of Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthome, and Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Catnip was listed as a stomach soother in the US Pharmacopoeia, a standard drug reference, from 1842 to 1882 and in the National Formulary the pharmacists’ reverence from 1916 to 1950.
History of catnip