VALERIAN FAMILY. 177 



Var. longifdlia, the common one N. ; slender or low, with 1 -ribbed leaver 

 those of the stem varying irom lance-oblono; to linear. 



H. angustiiolia. Dry banks from 111. S. & W., with tufted erect stems, 

 narrow-linear and acute 1-ribbed leaves, crowded short-pedicelled flowers, lobes 

 of the white corolla densely bearded inside, and only the top of the obovate pod 

 rising above the calyx. 



59. VALERIANACE^, VALERIAN FAMILY. 



Herbs, with opposite leaves, no stipules, calyx coherent with the 

 ovary, which has only one fertile one-ovuled cell but two abortive or 

 empty ones, and stamens always fewer than the lobes of the corolla 

 (1 -3, distinct), and inserted on its tube. Style slender: stigmas 

 1-3. Fruit small and dry, indehiscent ; the single hanging seed 

 with a large embryo and no albumen. Flowers small, in clusters 

 or cymes. 



* Lobes of the calyx many and slender, but hardly seen when in flower, being rolled 

 uj) inwards around the base of the corolla; in fruit they unroll and appear 

 as lung plumose bristles, resembling a pappus, lilce thistle-down. 



1. VALERIANA. Corolla with narrow or funnel-form tube usually gibbous at 



the base on one side, but not spurred, its 5 spreading lobes almost equal. 

 Stamens 8. Akene 1-celled, the minute empty cells early disappearing. 

 Root strong-scented. 



2. CENTRANTHUS. Corolla as in the preceding, but with a spur at the base. 



Stamen only one. 



* * Lobes of the calyx of a few short teeth or mostly hardly any. 



3. FEDIA. Corolla funnel-form, with 5 equal or rather unequal spreading lobes. 



Stamens mostly 3. Akene-Hke fruit with one fertile and two empty cells, or 

 the latter confluent into one. 



1. VALEIIIANA, VALERIAN. (Name from valere, to be well, alluding 

 to medical properties, the peculiar-scented root of some species used in medi- 

 cine.) Fl. early summer, often dioecious, white or purplish. 2/ 



* Garden species f-om Europe, producing the medicinal Valerian-root. 



V. officinalis, the commonest in gardens, 2° -3° high, a little downy, with 

 leaves of 11 to 21 lanceolate or oblong cut-toothed leaflets, and rootstocks not 

 running. 



V. Phu, is smoother, with root-leaves simple, stem-leaves of 5 - 7 entire 

 leaflets or lobes, and rootstock horizontal. 



* * Wild species iV. and chiefly W. : all rather rare or local. 



V. paueiflora. AVoodlands, Pcnn. to Illinois and S. W. ; l°-2° high, 

 smooth, with thin ovate and heart-shaped toothed root-leaves, stem-leaves of 

 3-7 ovate leaflets, rather few flowers in the crowded panicled cyme, and, long' 

 slender corolla. 



V. sylvatica. Cedar swamps from Vermont W. & N. ; with root-leaves 

 mostly ovate or oblong and entire, stem-leaves with 5 - II lance-oblong or ovate 

 almost entire leaflets ; corolla funnel-form. 



V. 6duliS. Alluvial ground from Ohio W. ; I°-4°high, with a large 

 6pindle-sha])cd root (eaten by the Indians W.), thickish leaves mostly from the 

 root and minutely woolly on the edges, those of the root lanceolate or spatulate, 

 of the stem cut into 3-7 long and narrow divisions. 



2. CENTRANTHUS, SPURRED VALERIAN. (From Greek words 



ioY spur and flower.) Fl. summer. ^ 



C. rtlber, Red S. or Jupiter's-Beard. Cult, for ornament, from S. 

 Eu. : a very smooth rather glaucous herb, l°-2° high, with lance-ovate ncarlj 

 entire leaves, all the upper ones sessile, and cymes of small flowers in a narrow 

 panicle, the corolla very slender, ^' long, red, rarely a white variety. 

 12 



