VALERIAN FAMILY 



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I. Valeriana (Valerian). — Flowers in corymbose, capitate, or 

 panicled cymes, with bracieoles, sometimes sub-dioecious ; pappus 

 deciduous ; corolla generally monosymmetric with an obconic 

 tube, pouched at its base. (Name said to be from the Latin 

 vdleo, I am well, from its medicinal vi.tue.) 



1. V. dioica (Small 

 Marsh Valerian). — ■ 

 Erect, unbranched, 

 about a foot high with 

 runners ; radical leaves 

 stalked, ovate ; canline 

 leaves pinnatifid, with a 

 large terminal lobe ; 

 ■flowers pinkish, in a ter- 

 minal corymbose cyme ; 

 stamens and ovaries on 

 different plants, the 

 latter in smaller, more 

 crowded, deeper col- 

 oured flowers. — Marshy 

 ground ; frequent. — Fl. 

 May, June. Perennial. 



2. V. officinalis (Great 

 Wild Valerian).— Much 

 taller and stouter than 

 the last, but resembling 

 it in habit and in the 

 colour and smell of the 

 flowers ; with suckers ; 

 leaves all pinnate, of 13 

 — 21 leaflets, which are 

 lanceolate^ dentate. — 

 Damp places ; not com- 

 mon. This is the 

 species used in medi- 

 cine, and the roots of kextranthus ruber {Red Spur-ValeHan). 



which are so attractive 



to cats, and, it is said, also to rats. — Fl. June, July. Perennial. 



3. V . sambucijolia (Elder-leaved A^alerian). — Differs mainly in 

 having runners and fewer (9 — 13), broader leaflets. 



4.^ V. pyrendica (Heart-leaved Valerian). — A large, coarse 

 plant, with very large, stalked, cordate, serrate leaves, some- 

 times occurring naturalised in plantations. — Fl. June, July. 

 Perennial. 



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