SPIKEXARD AXD YALEPJAX. Z/0 



Genevre, etc., and like this last, has a dark-coloured, very sweet- 

 scented root, which, when chewed, leaves a bitterness on the tongue. 

 The radical leaves are on long petioles, elliptic, 3 to 5 nerved, 

 undivided or a little toothed, ciliated ; cauline leaves few, small, 

 linear ; stems erect ; corymbs racemose ; flowers white, often direco- 

 polygamous, fruit glabrous. The whole plant is shining and about 

 half a foot high, with the stems sub-divided at top. Analogous to 

 this and to V. Celtica in perfume is : — 



V. Saliunca, Allioni, Flora Pedemontana, i., p. 3, t. 70, f. i. ; 

 Dufresne, Hist. Xat. de la famille des A^alerianees, p. 47 ; V. supina, 

 D.C., Flor. Fran^aise, iv., Xo. 3323 ; V. Cdtica, A^illars, Hist, des 

 plantes du Dauphine, ii., p. 285. A perennial, native of Savoy, 

 Yallais, Piedmont, Dauphine, Italy, on the higher Alps. The plant 

 is glabrous ; leaves spathulate, obtuse, entire, on short petioles ; 

 cauline leaves sometimes tridentate at the base, stems short. The 

 flowers, which are disposed in capitate corymbs, are white, tinged 

 with red and sweet scented. The fruit is obloncr and crlabrous. 

 The root is sweet-scented and of 1 dtter taste. The plant is from 

 3 to 6 inches in height. 



Valeriana Dioscoridis. According to Sibthorp & Smith,* 

 this is the true Valeriana Pliu, (j)ov, of Dioscorides and therefore 

 the most powerful of the Valerians, for which V. oj/icinalis is to 

 be considered merely the the Xorthern substitute ; It has a much 

 more aromatic and less nauseous odour than the British species. 

 De Candolle refers this species to V. sisymhril folia of Desfontaines, 

 an oriental plant : but the synonymy does not appear to be certain. 

 Its Persian name is Bekh-i-sumbul. 



V. Dioscoridis is a native of the country about the river 

 Limysus in Lycia. The root consists of several fleshy, fusiform 

 tubers. The stem is erect, rising to a height of two feet ; it is 

 simple, leafy, taper and hollow. Ptadical leaves numerous, 

 petiolate, lyrate, pinnated ; the leaflets opposite, sessile, ovate, with 

 spreading teeth and veiny, the odd one very large. Stem leaves 

 few, opposite, sessile, pinnated, the leaflets nearly equal, lanceolate, 

 unequally toothed. Cyme terminal, trichotomous, many-flowered, 

 thyrsoid. Bractes lanceolate, acuminate. Flowers flesh-coloured. 



* Flone Gr;ecie, i., p. 24, t. 33. 



