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BRITISH FLOWERING PLANTS 



Valerian — Valeriana officinalis 

 (Plate XLVIII) 



This plant grows in damp places, near water, or 

 in swampy woods. It flowers in spring and sum- 

 mer. It has a perennial root, and an upright 

 hollow stem, 2 or 3 feet high, surrounded by 

 pinnate leaves, generally opposite, and divided 

 above. The lowest leaves have the longest stalks. 

 They are very long and broad, and consist of 9 or 

 10 pairs of lanceolate alternating leaflets, dentated 

 at the edges ; and 1 terminal leaflet. The flowers 

 are white or pink, and the fruit is dry, and sur- 

 mounted by a feathery pappus formed by the 

 withered calyx. The flowers have a strong odour, 

 w r hich is very attractive to insects, and also to cats 

 according to popular ideas. Medicinally the plant 

 is employed in cases of hysteria. 



There are a few other British species of this 

 Order, among which is the Corn Salad ( Valerianella 

 olitoria), which has smooth lanceolate dark green 

 leaves with the borders entire. It is a small plant, 

 not much more than 6 inches high, and the small 



white flowers grow in dense cymes. It grows 

 in fields and gardens, and is sometimes used 

 in salad. 



Order XLIV. Dipsacacecs (3 genera) 



This is a small Order in which the flowers are 

 clustered together into one head, within an outer 

 covering or involucre ; and the calyx proper is 

 double, enclosing the ovary in the separate flowers. 

 There are 4 free stamens, inserted in the tube of 

 the corolla, and the anthers are likewise free. The 

 flowers are generally blue. 



The Teazel {Dipsacus fullonuvi) is probably a 

 naturalised plant, but is considered to be hardly 

 distinct from the White Teazel (Dipsacus sylvestris), 

 from which it differs by its hooked bristles. The 

 cultivated plant, the heads of which have a general 

 resemblance to those of a large thistle, is a native 

 of South Europe, and is used for carding cloth. 

 It grows to a height of 4 or 5 feet, and the stem 

 and flower-stalks are prickly. The calyx is without 

 bristles, but the scales of the receptacle are lanceo- 



