Three Wild Mints - Purple Dead-Nettle, Henbit, and Catnip

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In this video I show three members of the mint family that are growing well near me right now: purple dead-nettle, henbit, and catnip. They are described so you can identify them, and I compare them closely to make sure you know what edible and medicinal mint you are dealing with.

Catnip - Nepeta cataria
Identification
Catnip is a perennial herb that grows up to 1 m tall with a square stem. The leaves are hairy and can triangular or heart shaped. The tops of the leaves are green, and they are greyish green underneath. The leaf edges are coarsely toothed, and the flowers are whitish pink.

Edible
Catnip is a wild edible plant. The young leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. The older leaves are sometimes used as a flavouring for cooking. The fresh or dried leaves can be used to make a tea.

Medicinal
Catnip is a medicinal plant. It has been used to treat digestive problems, and catnip is calming to the stomach. It also has been used as a sedative to reduce anxiety and to help sleep.

Try a tea made from the leaves and flowers made with 1 teaspoon of dried leaves or 2 teaspoons of fresh leaves steeped with almost boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes. The tea can help to soothe anxiety, help you fall asleep, calm an upset stomach, reduce a fever by stimulating sweating, relieve cramps in the gastrointestinal tract, muscles, or menstrual cramps.

Purple Dead-Nettle / Dead Nettle / Deadnettle - Lamium purpureum
Identification
Purple dead nettle has a square stem and triangular leaves with round-toothed edges and red to purple flowers. The leaves near the top turn purple, and when the plant is crushed, it can smell minty. The flowers are partially concealed by the leaves.

Edible
Purple dead nettle is edible and can be eaten raw or cooked and added to things like soups or stews.

Medicinal
Purple dead-nettle is also medicinal and is said to be styptic meaning it helps to stop bleeding. It also has been used to treat constipation.

Henbit - Lamium amplexicaule AKA Common Dead Nettle
Identification
Henbit has heart shaped leaves with blunt toothed edges that are stalkless and clasp the stem higher up on the stem. The lower leaves still have stalks. Henbit has a square stem which is sometimes bent at the base and then becoming more vertically upright higher up. The flowers are pink to dark purple and emerge from the axils, where the leaf meets the stem, of the upper leaves.

Edible
Henbit is edible. The leaves and flowers are edible and are sometimes described as sweet and a little peppery and a bit like celery. Young leaves can be eaten fresh, but older leaves are better cooked. Henbit is high in vitamins, iron, and fibre.

Medicinal
Henbit is medicinal. It is said to have laxative properties and to be anti-rheumatic.

Please consume wild plants at your own risk! Consult multiple reliable sources before consuming any wild plants! This video is for information and entertainment only!

References

Dickinson, Richard. Weeds of Canada and the Northern United States. The University of Alberta Press. 1999.

Kloos, Scott. Pacific Northwest Medicinal Plants. Timber Press, Inc. 2017

MacKinnon, A. Edible and Medicinal Plants of Canada. Lone Pine Media Productions (BC) Ltd. 2014.

Millard, Elizabeth. Backyard Pharmacy: Growing Medicinal Plants in Your Own Yard. Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc. 2015.

Parish, R.; Coupe, R.; and Lloyd, D. Plants of the Inland Northwest and Southern Interior British Columbia. BC Ministry of Forests and Lone Pine Publishing. 2018

Pojar, Jim and MacKinnon, Andy. Plants of Coastal British Columbia including Washington, Oregon & Alaska. BC Ministry of Forests and Lone Pine Publishing. 2004.