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Ancestor: Unknown

Descendants 100,000 Yh: 

Sprawling Catnip
Shortmint

Size: Shrub ball up to 50-100 cm tall and wide

Life Cycle: Begins as a seed encased in a papery nutlet with other seeds. Either the seeds fall out or the nutlet falls off onto the soil. Shoots can split into branches by growth of lateral buds. New shoots grow out of the soil via short rhizomes which helps form a dense shrub ball. Seeds germinate in the spring and floresce throughout the summer months, continually dropping seed and growing new flowering shoots. Flowers have both male and female parts and can self-fertilise, though cross-pollination by the planet's few insects and occasionally mice is more helpful genetically for the population. Catnip spreads very readily by the seeds. The plant dies back during cold winter months but can regrow from the roots next spring. In some hotter areas the plant may die back during drought to have a short resurgence after the monsoon, growing new shoots from the established roots. In hotter areas also the plant can keep it's foliage throughout the winter months as long as there is enough water.

Other: They can occur as large shrub balls in soil with plenty of space and nutrients. However in crowded habitats or nutrient poor soils they can grow as smaller plants with much fewer stems. The stem is cuboidal rather than cylindrical, this is like other mints. It can be seen easily if the stem is cut.