VALERIANACE.E. 



Nat. syst. ed. 2. p. 265. 



NARDOSTACHYS. 



Limb of calyx 5-parted, lobes ovate-oblong, acute, leafy, some- 

 what toothed, permanent. Corolla regular, ecalcarate, obtusely 

 5-lobed, bearded in the throat. Stamens 4, attached to the 

 bottom of the corolla. Stigma capitate. Capsule 3-celled, 

 crowned by the lobes of the calyx, and almost shorter than they 

 are, not adnate to a bract. DC. 



963. N. Jatamansi DC. coll. mem. vii. t. 1. prodr. iv. 624. 

 Foyle illustr. 243. t. 54. — Valeriana Jatamansi Jones in as. res. 

 ii. 405. iv. 109. Don in Lamb, cinch. 180. ic. V. Spica 

 Vahl. enum. ii. 13. Patrinia Jatamansi Don prodr. nep. 159. 

 NapSoc ivdacj], Dioscorides. — On the mountains of the north of 

 India, at considerable heights. (Spikenard.) 



A dwarf herbaceous plant with a long hairy tap root. Stems perennial, 

 very short, simply divided into a number of shaggy scaly crowns from 

 which the leaves proceed. Branches erect, a few inches high, downy. 

 Leaves obovate-lanceolate, 3-ribbed, downy; those next the root acute, 

 the upper ones obtuse. Flowers pale pink, clustered in the axils of 

 the upper leaves, which form a kind of involucre to them. — This, the 

 true spikenard of the ancients, has been highly esteemed not only as a 

 perfume, but as a stimulant medicine. Oriental writers give it as a 

 remedy for a multitude of diseases, and it appears really to be valuable 

 in hysteria and epilepsy. 



VALERIANA. 



Limb of the calyx rolled up during flowering, then unrolled 

 into a deciduous feathery pappus, consisting of many plumose 

 setae. Corolla obconical or cylindrical, equal at the base or 

 gibbous, but without a spur ; limb bluntly 5-cleft, rarely 3-fid. 

 Stamens 3. Fruit indehiscent; when ripe 1-celled, 1-seeded. 



964. V. officinalis, Linn. sp. 45. Eng. Dot. t. 698. FL Lond. 

 t. 5. Woodv. t. 96. Smith Eng. Fl. i. 43. DC. prodr. 

 iv. 641. — Wet places all over Europe, or even in dry pastures. 

 (Common Valerian.) 



Root tuberous, somewhat creeping, fetid, most aromatic when grow- 

 ing in dry pastures. Stem about 4 feet high, furrowed. Leaves pinnate ; 

 leaflets coarsely serrated, those of the radical leaves broadest, ap- 

 proaching to ovate. Panicles cymose, contracted. Bracteolae ovate- 

 lanceolate, acuminate, herbaceous, membranous at the edge, appressed, 

 rather longer than the ovary. Calyx superior, rolled inwards in the 

 471 h h 4 



