VALERIAN 



19 



fries, Kirkcudbright, Ayr; in E. Lowlands in Roxburgh, Berwick, 

 Haddington, Edinburgh, LinHthgow, Life, Stirling, and W. Suther- 

 land; and up to 2000 it. in Northumberland. It is absent honi 

 1 reland. 



Valerian grows in moist places such as wet meadows, marshes, and 

 bogs. There it is as common as Water Dropwort> Marsh Marigold, 

 Joint Rush, Marsh Arrowgrass, Common .Spike Rush, and many other 

 paludal types of vegetation. Tall and graceful, Valerian has simple 

 stems with egg-shaped, stalked, radical leaves, s[K)on- shaped, and 



\'ai.i.kia\ {I'li/i'n'iiiui (/iii/ii:, L.) 



undivided. The stem-lea\es are pinnatifid, or with lobes divided 

 nearly to the base, few, obtusely and coarsely toothed. The stem is 

 square in .section. 



As the second Latin name suggests, the plants have stamens and 

 ])Istils on different llowers. The first as well as the second has an 

 inconspicuous caly.\, with a |)rominent rim round the top of the ovary 

 in the female. The flowers are tetramorphic. The corolla is mono- 

 petalous, with small tube, and has either rudimentary or no anthers, 

 or the corolla may be large or smaller, with no pistil or a very rudi- 

 mentary one. There are 3 stamens, which jjrotrude from the flesh- 

 coloured petals. The llowers are panicled. The fruit is small, ribbed, 

 and smooth. 



