Abstract
Chewing fresh leaves and tender twigs ofCatha edulis, commonly known as kat, in order to experience their amphetamine-like stimulant action is on the increase in regions of traditional use—e.g., southern part of the Arabian Peninsula, the Horn of Africa (Somalia, Djibouti), Ethiopia, Kenya, and Madagascar. Although the genus Catha was first delineated nearly 200 yr ago, botanical descriptions rarely mention that plants may bear alternate or opposite leaves and never include an explanation for the presence of shoots with opposite leaves and shoots with alternate leaves on the same plant. An obscure paper (1903) by the late Sir David Prain in a long defunct journal goes into considerable detail on the matter. Extensive excerpts from that paper are reprinted. The association of various market grades of kat with morphological origin and age is suggested. The extensive polymorphism of the kat plant is described. More work is needed to understand kat from morphological, chemical, and pharmacological perspectives.
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In the published proceedings of that conference, the editors regrettably took the conscious decision to retain the commonly used but incorrect spelling, khat. The exact orthography of the transliteration of the Arabic form, since the name of the plant is spelled with aqaf is kāt, or qāt, and one wishes that the spellingkhat would be discontinued.
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Krikorian, A.D. Growth mode and leaf arrangement inCatha edulis (Kat). Econ Bot 39, 514–521 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02858759
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02858759