In addition to catnip, what other plants do you know that have the word "cat" in their names?

French anthropologist Marcel Mauss once said: "The cat is the only animal that can tame man." The bond between cats and humans is ancient. As early as ancient Egypt, cats lived with people and were regarded as family guardians by the ancient Egyptians. In China in the 6th century AD, cats represented cunning, mystery and the legend of immortality.

Figure 1 Bastet, the ancient Egyptian goddess with a cat's head and a human body, symbolizes family warmth and joy and was loved by the ancient Egyptians.

(Image source: wikipedia-Gunawan Kartapranata)

With the development and progress of society, the "functional" use of cats has gradually weakened, and the role of "companionship" has replaced it. Humans have become more and more emotionally dependent on cats, and many literati and poets in ancient and modern times are also famous "cat slaves."

For example, the Song Dynasty writer Huang Tingjian is said to have asked his servant to buy fish to "propose" in order to get a cat, hence the poem "I heard that the raccoon servant is going to count his cubs, so he bought fish and put them through willow trees to propose to the cat."

Lu You, a patriotic poet of the Southern Song Dynasty, was also a famous "cat slave". In his well-known "Two Poems Written in Wind and Rain on November 4th", everyone may only know the sentiment of "Lying in bed late at night listening to the wind and rain, and dreaming of iron horses and frozen rivers", but few people understand the story of pet cats "The firewood by the stream is soft, the felt is warm, and my cat slave and I do not go out".

In modern my country, there are also many literati who love to "hug cats", such as Lao She, Hu Shi, Yang Jiang, Qian Zhongshu, Lin Huiyin, etc. Cats are frequent characters in their works.

There is another type of existence related to cats in nature, that is plants. So what is the relationship between these plants and cats?

Part 1

Catnip

This grass called catnip (Nepeta cataria) does not belong to the mint genus, but to the genus Nepeta. However, both belong to the same family: Lamiaceae. The Lamiaceae family is rich in spice plants, including sage, rosemary, thyme, etc.

Similar to these spice plants, catnip is also fragrant due to the volatile aromatic oils it contains. Its stem is quadrangular and has short grayish-white hairs.

Figure 2 Catnip (Image source: China Plant Image Database)

In addition to the name, there is a strange phenomenon between catnip and cats. When cats smell and inhale the crushed stems and leaves of catnip, they will rub, roll, slap, chew or secrete a lot of saliva, which is very strange.

According to current research, the main reason for the "drunk cat effect" is that catnip contains a chemical called nepetalactone. Although it is not clear how this chemical acts on the cat's brain, it is possible that this substance stimulates the cat's taste organs.

Part 2

Cat's Claw

Cat's claw (Ranunculus ternatus) is a petite plant from the Ranunculaceae family. Most Ranunculus plants, especially those found in China, have five-petaled yellow flowers that are hard to recognize. Cat's claw is no exception. Every spring, the yellow flowers bloom one after another, like a floral carpet covering the green ground, full of wild interest.

Figure 3 Flowers of cat's claw (Photo credit: Photo by Xu Wenbin)

Although the flowers of Ranunculus are simple and primitive, they occupy a very important position in systematic taxonomy. The leaves of cat's claw are irregularly divided, and the whole plant has fine hairs. It is named because its blocky fleshy roots resemble cat's claws. Cat's claw has strong vitality and will not rot in the soil for half a year.

Figure 4 The fleshy roots of cat's claw (Image source: China Plant Image Database)

Figure 5 Cat's paw (Image source: wikipedia- cloudzilla)

Part 3

Cat's Eye Grass

Cat's Eye Grass is the Chinese medicinal name for Euphorbia esula, a genus of the Euphorbiaceae family, also known as Cat's Ear Eye. The Euphorbia genus contains more than 2,000 different species, making it the largest genus in the plant kingdom. It is found almost all over the world, and due to the complex and diverse living environments, the morphological variations between species are extremely large or highly similar.

As a leader in the Euphorbia genus, Cat's Eye Grass has inherited this "advantage". It is one of the most widely distributed and most variable species in the domestic Euphorbia genus, and often produces various variations due to complex habitats.

Like other Euphorbia plants, the whole plant of cat's eye grass contains white latex and blooms yellow-green flowers in spring and summer. Each flower has 5-6 umbrella stalks, each umbrella stalk has 2-3 branches, each with a pair of fan-shaped half-moon or broad triangular heart-shaped bracts, a bit like a cat's eyes.

Figure 6 Cat's eye grass (Image source: China Plant Image Database)

Figure 7 Maoyan (Source: stockvault.net, CC0 shared)

Part 4

Cat's Whiskers

Clerodendranthus spicatus, also known as cat's whiskers, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Clerodendranthus in the family Lamiaceae. It is named for its elongated stamens that are exposed in the corolla, which resembles a cat's whiskers. Its corolla is light purple or white, and its inflorescence is umbel-shaped, forming terminal racemes on the main stem and branches. When in full bloom, it looks like the skirt of a dancing girl, or like countless butterflies with their wings slightly spread.

Figure 8 Cat's Whiskers. The stamens are very similar to cat's whiskers. See the picture above for cat's whiskers.

(Photo credit: Photo by Zhang Lijun)

Cat's whiskers prefer a warm and humid climate. It is mainly produced in southern Yunnan, Guangdong, Hainan, southern Guangxi, Taiwan and Fujian in my country, and in the South Pacific Islands, Malaysia and other countries abroad.

Part.5

Cattail

In addition to the more well-known plants related to animal tails, such as foxtail grass, pennisetum, rabbit's tail grass and sage, there is also a plant called cat's tail grass (Uraria crinita). It comes from the genus Uraria in the Fabaceae family. Most of the plants in this genus have beautiful inflorescences and strange fruit shapes.

Figure 9 Cattail grass (Source: China Plant Image Database)

Figure 10 Cat’s tail (Image source: rawpixel)

Cattail grass is native to the temperate regions of Eurasia and was first introduced to China as a staple forage for military horses. It has rich leaves and high nutritional value, and can extend the service life of high-yielding dairy cows and the endurance of racehorses.

At the same time, cattail grass can absorb heavy metal ions such as lead, cadmium, arsenic, zinc, and mercury. At the same time, due to its well-developed fibrous roots, it has a certain ability to resist erosion and plays a certain role in preventing and controlling soil erosion. The purple flowers, clustered on the stem axis, bloom in sequence, look quiet and elegant. Perhaps it is this lazy smell that made the namer think of "cat".

Part 6

Cattail Tree

You read that right, cattail trees are real plants in nature, belonging to the genus Markhamia. These plants are named because their fruits are densely covered with yellow-brown hairs and look like "cat's tails".

Figure 11 Cattail Tree (Source: China Plant Image Database)

In my country, cattail trees are mainly distributed in South China, Yunnan, Fujian and other places, and are also distributed in Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and other countries. The cattail trees have dense and swaying branches and leaves, and large and gorgeous flowers, which are very eye-catching.

The Dai people use it as a traditional material plant, using its leaves to boil water as tea for daily drinking. At the same time, the wood of cattail wood can also be used as beams and furniture.

In fact, there are many fantastic linkages between plants and animals in nature. In addition to the "cat" plants introduced today, what other ones do you know? Come and share with your friends~

References:

[1] “Cat Drug”: Interesting Talks about Catnip and Cats. Wuhan Botanical Garden Flower Doctor Natural Encyclopedia.

[2] Overview and prospects of cat's claw research. China's wild plant resources.

[3] Cultivation and utilization of cattail grass. Planting

Produced by: Science Popularization China

Author: Jiang Shan (Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Producer: Computer Network Information Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences

The article only represents the author's views and does not represent the position of China Science Expo

This article was first published in China Science Expo (kepubolan)

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