﻿VALERIAN 
  FAMILY 
  235 
  

  

  1. 
  S. 
  canadensis 
  L. 
  COMMON 
  ELDER. 
  Stems 
  5-10 
  ft. 
  high, 
  with 
  

   a 
  thin 
  cylinder 
  of 
  wood 
  surrounding 
  abundant 
  white 
  pith. 
  Leaflets 
  

   5-11, 
  oblong, 
  taper-pointed, 
  smooth. 
  Cymes 
  flat 
  and 
  often 
  very 
  

   large. 
  Fruit 
  purplish-black, 
  insipid 
  or 
  almost 
  nauseous, 
  but 
  some- 
  

   what 
  used 
  in 
  cookery. 
  

  

  2. 
  S. 
  racemosa 
  L. 
  RED-BERRIED 
  ELDER. 
  More 
  woody, 
  with 
  

   brown 
  pith. 
  Leaflets 
  fewer, 
  downy 
  beneath, 
  especially 
  when 
  young. 
  

   Cymes 
  panicled 
  and 
  somewhat 
  pyramidal. 
  Fruit 
  scarlet. 
  

  

  97. 
  VALERIANACEJE. 
  VALERIAN 
  FAMILY 
  

  

  Herbs, 
  rarely 
  shrubs. 
  Leaves 
  opposite, 
  without 
  stipules. 
  

   Flowers 
  epigynous, 
  small, 
  usually 
  not 
  actinomorphic, 
  in 
  fork- 
  

   ing 
  cymes. 
  Corolla 
  funnel-shaped, 
  the 
  base 
  often 
  with 
  a 
  sac 
  

   or 
  spur. 
  Stamens 
  1-3 
  or 
  5, 
  inserted 
  at 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  the 
  corolla 
  

   tube 
  ; 
  filaments 
  slender, 
  anthers 
  versatile. 
  Ovary 
  cells 
  3 
  ; 
  two 
  

   of 
  them 
  not 
  ovule-bearing, 
  the 
  third 
  with 
  a 
  single 
  ovule 
  hang- 
  

   ing 
  from 
  the 
  top 
  ; 
  style 
  thread-like 
  ; 
  stigma 
  blunt 
  or 
  2-3-iobed. 
  

   Fruit 
  small, 
  not 
  splitting 
  open. 
  

  

  I. 
  VALERIANA 
  L. 
  

  

  Perennial, 
  rarely 
  annual, 
  herbs. 
  Basal 
  leaves 
  crowded 
  ; 
  stem 
  

   leaves 
  opposite 
  or 
  whorled, 
  entire 
  or 
  pinnately 
  cut. 
  Flowers 
  

   in 
  corymbed, 
  headed, 
  or 
  panicled 
  cymes. 
  Limb 
  of 
  the 
  calyx 
  

   consisting 
  of 
  several 
  plumy 
  bristles. 
  Lobes 
  of 
  the 
  corolla 
  5 
  

   or 
  rarely 
  3-4, 
  unequal. 
  Stamens 
  3. 
  Stigma 
  knobbed. 
  Fruit 
  

   flattened, 
  ribbed, 
  1-celled, 
  1-seeded. 
  

  

  1. 
  V. 
  edulis 
  Nutt. 
  An 
  upright, 
  straight-stemmed 
  plant, 
  1-4 
  ft. 
  

   high. 
  Leaves 
  all 
  thickish 
  and 
  closely 
  fringed 
  with 
  short 
  hairs 
  ; 
  root 
  

   leaves 
  linear-spatulate 
  or 
  lanceolate-spatulate, 
  entire 
  ; 
  stem 
  leaves 
  

   pinnately 
  parted, 
  the 
  3-7 
  divisions 
  long 
  and 
  narrow. 
  Flowers 
  almost 
  

   dioecious 
  in 
  a 
  long, 
  interrupted 
  panicle. 
  Corolla 
  whitish. 
  Root 
  long 
  

   and 
  stout, 
  eaten 
  by 
  Indians. 
  Low 
  ground 
  and 
  wet 
  prairies, 
  especially 
  

   N.W. 
  

  

  2. 
  V. 
  officinalis 
  L. 
  GARDEN 
  VALERIAN. 
  Plant 
  smooth 
  or 
  hairy 
  

   below, 
  strong 
  smelling. 
  Rootstock 
  short. 
  Leaves 
  all 
  pinnate 
  ; 
  basal 
  

   leaves 
  long-petioled, 
  soon 
  withering; 
  stem 
  leaves 
  2-5 
  in. 
  long, 
  sessile, 
  

   the 
  leaflets 
  lanceolate, 
  entire 
  or 
  serrate. 
  Corolla 
  pale 
  pink. 
  Root- 
  

   stocks 
  strong-scented, 
  used 
  in 
  medicine. 
  Cultivated 
  from 
  Europe. 
  

  

  