CHAP. 1 ] VALERIANE,^. 387 



ORDER CIV.— OPERCULARIE^. 

 Exotic weeds, formerly included in Ru- 

 biacese. 



ORDER CV.— YALERIANE^ THE VALERIAN 



TRIBE. 



No person can ever have been in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Greenhithe, in Kent, without 

 having observed the red Valerian, which grows 

 in such abundance on the steep banks of the 

 chalk-pits in that neighbourhood ; and pro- 

 bably still more of my readers will be familiar 

 with the common wild Valerian, or All-heal, 

 which is found in m^oist places, generally among 

 sedges, in every part of England. Another 

 species of the same genus is common in Scot- 

 land, so that the name of Valerian is familiar 

 to all persons who know anything of British 

 plants. Common as these plants are, however, 

 probably most of my readers are unaware of 

 the very curious construction of their flowers ; 

 or of the very great variety exhibited by the 

 different species. The genus Valeriana is, in- 

 deed, one which presents a remarkable instance 

 of variety of construction, united with a simi- 

 larity of form which makes all the species 

 recognisable at a single glance. In all the 

 species, the corolla is funnel-shaped, with a 

 c c 2 



