388 VALERIANEiE. [part ir. 



long tube, and a five-lobed limb. In the red 

 Valerian (V. rubra) ^ the lower part of the tube 

 is drawn out into a spur ; and on this account 

 the plant is sometimes called the spurred Va- 

 lerian, and it has been placed by De CandoUe 

 in a new genus, which he called Centranthus. 

 The other species of Valerian have the tube of 

 the llow^er gibbous, that is, much larger on one 

 side than on the other. In ail the calyx is 

 tubular, with the limb curiously rolled, so as to 

 form a rim or crown to the fruit, like that on 

 the heads of basket-women. When the flowers 

 drop, the fruit, which is one-celled and one- 

 seeded, and which adheres closely to the tube 

 of the calyx, begins to swell, and as it does so 

 the limb of the calyx gradually unrolls, till at 

 last, when the fruit is ripe, it forms a sort of 

 feathery tuft to w-aft it away. The leaves of 

 plants of this genus vary exceedingly, even on 

 the same plant ; but generally those of the red 

 Valerian are lanceolate ; those of V. dioica are 

 pinnatifid ; those of the wild Valerian ( V. offi- 

 cinalis)^ pinnate ; and those of the garden Va- 

 lerian, the kind found in Scotland, {V. pyre- 

 naica,) are cordate. The flowers of F. dioica 

 are male a-nd female, and are found on different 

 plants. The principal other genera in this 

 order are Valerianella, the Corn Salad or 

 Lamb's Lettuce; and Fedia, the Horn of 

 Plenty. 



