228 VALERIANACE^. ( VALERIAN FAMILY.) 



lanceolate pungent leaves in whorls of 4 - 6, and small subsessile blue or pink- 

 ish flowers surrounded by a gamophyllous involucre. (Named for Dr. William 

 Sherai'd, patron of Dillenius.) 



S. ARVExsis, L. The only species ; sparingly naturalized from Eu. 



Order 53. VALEKIAXACE^E. (Valerian Family.) 



Herbs, with opposite leaves and no stipules; the calyx-tube coherent with 

 the ovary, which has one fertile 1-ovuled cell and two abortive or empty ones, 

 the stamens distinct, 1-3, fewer than the lobes of the corolla, and inserted 

 on its tube. — Corolla tubular > funnel-form, often irregular, mostly 5- 

 lobed, the lobes imbricated in the bud. Style slender; stigmas 1-3. 

 Fruit indehiscent, 1 -celled (the two empty cells of the ovary disappear- 

 ing), or .3-celled, two of them empty, the other 1-seeded. Seed suspended, 

 anatropous. with a large embryo and no albumen. — Flowers in panicled 

 or clustered cymes. (Roots often odorous and antispasmodic.) 



1. VALERIANA, Tourn. Valerian. 



Limb of the calyx of several plumose bristles (like a pappus) which are rolled 

 up inward in flower, but unroll and spread as the seed-like 1-celled fruit ma- 

 tures. Corolla commonly gibbous near the base, the 5-lobed limb nearly regu- 

 lar. Stamens 3. — Perennial herbs, with thickened strong-scented roots, and 

 simple or pinnate leaves. Flowers in many species imperfectly dioecious or di- 

 morphous. (A mediaeval Latin name of uncertain origin.) 



* Root spindle-shaped, large and deep (6- 12' long) ; leaves thichish. 



1. V. edulis, Xutt. Smooth, or minutely downy when very young ; stem 

 straight (1 -4° high), few-leaved; leaves commonly minutely and densely cili- 

 ate, those of the root spatulate and lanceolate, of the stem pinnately parted into 

 3-7 long and narrow divisions ; flowers in a long and narrow interrupted pani- 

 cle, nearly dioecious; corolla whitish, obconical (2" long). — Wet plains and 

 prairies, Ohio and Ont. to Iowa, Minn., and westward. June. 



* * Root fibrous; leaves thin. {Stems 1-3° high.) 



2. V. Sylv^tica, Banks. Smooth or minutely pubescent; root-leaves 

 ovate or oblong, entire, rarely with 2 small lobes ; stem-leaves pinnate, with 3- 

 1 1 oblong-ovate or lanceolate nearly entire leaflets ; cyme at first close, many- 

 flowered ; corolla inversely conical (3" long, rose-color or white). — Wet ground, 

 Newf. to southern N. Y., N. Mich., Avestward and northward. June. 



3. V. paueiflora, Michx. Smooth, slender, surculose ; root-leaves ovate, 

 heart-shaped, toothed, pointed, sometimes with 2 small lateral divisions ; stem- 

 leaves pinnate, Avith 3-7 ovate toothed leaflets ; branches of the panicled cyme 

 few-flowered ; tube of the (pale pink) corolla long and slender (|'long). — Woods 

 and alluvial banks, Penn. to S. 111., Mo., and Tenn. June. 



2. VALERIANELLA, Tourn. Corn Salad. Lamb-Lettuce. 



Limb of the calyx obsolete or merely toothed. Corolla funnel-form, equally 

 or unequally 5-lobed. Stamens 3, rarely 2. Fruit 3-celled, two of the cells 

 empty and sometimes confluent into one, the other 1-seeded. — Annuals and 



