Cat behavior question - going nuts over..dirt?

Factual Questions
1

My cat is about 2.5 years old, and has always been an indoor cat.

I took her out on the patio today for the first time since I moved to the new place. She sniffed around a bit, but found a little bit of what appeared to be normal dirt sitting on the concrete, and started licking it. She grew more enthusiastic and then started rolling around in it. Sort of similar to how cats react to catnip, I think - I’ve never seen a cat have catnip, just heard about it.

I bumped her away from that area because I was worried about her consuming dirt, so she sniffed around and found another bit of dirt (maybe tiny leaf fragments scattered in there), and did the same thing. When she was rolling around sometimes she’d stick her tongue out and it was obviously really dry.

I picked her up to take her in, and her heart was beating very fast, though she hadn’t been doing anything to justify it.
I looked up catnip, thinking perhaps some catnip leaf fragments were around here or something, but it’s unclear as to where it grows. I live in the middle of the desert in Vegas, so plant life here isn’t all that plentiful. I couldn’t find a site to tell me where catnip grew, except “North America and Asia”, and a wide temperature range, so I have no idea if it’s related.

Anyone have any ideas as to what her behavior might indicate?

2

Catnip may have been a houseplant the previous residents had. It’s a vigorous plant, but it would probably take frequent watering to grow it outdoors in Vegas.

3

If this space is accessable by outdoor cats it would have been gone a long time ago, if it’s not it could be catnip.

4

I’m in central Florida. My cat also loves to roll around in the dirt. He also loves to roll around in dry leaves and in the street where there’s loose sand and gravel. Most of the time it looks like he’s trying to scratch his back.

5

One of my goofy cats goes all “love jones” on residual Comet scent in my sink. She puts on a slinky negligee and starts strutting around in feather mules singin’ “Love to love ya, baby”. It’s kinda creepy. She does the same thing to a fresh litterbox.