VALERIANEjE. IX. VALERIANA. 



679 



roughish from short hairs ; stems striated, with the lower joints 

 or knees radicant ; lower leaves undivided, toothed, acumi- 

 nated, on long petioles, heart-shaped ; upper ones on short pe- 

 tioles, ternate ; lateral leaflets small, terminal one larger, ovate 

 or oblong, acuminated ; panicle terminal, with short opposite 

 branches, which are corymbose at the apex. If, . F. Native of 

 . Nipaul, at Gosaingsthan. Trunk of root slender, creeping, and 

 throwing out fibres. 



Creeping Valerian. PL creeping, 1 foot. 



82 V. WALLI'CHII (D. C. coll. mem. vii. t. 4. prod. 4. p. 

 640.) radical leaves petiolate, heart-shaped, a little crenated, 

 villous, but most so on the petioles ; stems erect, striat- 

 ed, simple, smoothish; cauline leaves distant, small, cut a 

 little at the base ; upper leaves linear, entire ; corymbs subum- 

 bellate ; fruit villous. If. F. Native of Nipaul, at Kamaon. 

 V. vil!6sa, Wall. herb, but not of Thunb. Stems villous at the 

 knees. Herb 8-10 inches high. Petioles beset with retrograde 

 villi. 



Wallich's Valerian. PI. | to 1 foot. 



83 V. ELA'TA (D. Don, prod. fl. nep. p. 15 9.) stem branched, 

 terete, smooth ; leaves pinnate ; leaflets lanceolate, quite entire, 

 downy ; flowers corymbosely panicled ; fruit with villous fur- 

 rows. I/ . F. Native of Nipaul. Root fibrous. Stem erect, 

 branched, 3-4 feet in length. Flowers small, rose-coloured, 

 triandrous. 



Tall Valerian. PL 3 to 4 feet. 



84 V. HARDWI'CKII (Wall, in Roxb. fl. ind. 1. p. 166.) plant 

 erect, downy ; stems striated, villous ; radical leaves numerous, 

 undivided, cordate, toothed, acute, unequally sinuated, on long 

 petioles ; cauline leaves sessile, remote, pinnate ; leaflets lan- 

 ceolate, crenated, villous ; corymbs at length elongated and 

 panicled ; peduncles dichotomous ; stamens inclosed ; fruit tetra- 

 gonal, hairy ; stigma 3-lobed. I/ . F. Native of Nipaul, and 

 near the town of Sirinagur, where it is called by the Nawarre 

 people chamaha-swa. Hardw. in asiat. res. 4. p. 350. with a 

 figure. D. Don, prod. fl. nep. p. 159. Wall. pi. rar. asiat. 

 3. t. 263. Val. Hardwickiana, Roam, et Schultes, mant. 1. p. 

 259. Root thick, short, furnished with long thickish fibres. 

 Stem fistular, branched, very variable in height, from a hand to 

 2-3 feet. Hairs on the leaves very short. Flowers white. 

 Spikenard, Jones, asiat. res. 2. p. 405. with a figure. The 

 root is strong scented like the common valerian, and is used 

 medicinally by the natives of Nipaul. 



Hardreick's Valerian. PL \ to 3 feet. 



85 V. TE'NERA (Wall. cat. no. 435.) plant smoothish, erect ; 

 stem striated, villous at the knees, the rest glabrous ; radical 

 leaves small, reniform, on long petioles : cauline leaves pinnate ; 

 leaflets lanceolate, almost entire, acuminated ; corymbs con- 

 tracted. If. . F. Native of Nipaul, at Kamaon. Herb 5-6 

 inches high. Leaves downy on the margins and petioles. This 

 is probably only a dwarf variety of V. Hardntckii. 



Tender Valerian. PL 1 foot. 



86 V. SISYMBRIIFOLIA (Desf. choix. Tourn. p. 53. t. 41. ann. 

 mus. 11. p. 273. t. 28.) plant glabrous, erect; stem finely 

 striated; leaves all pinnate; leaflets ovate-roundish, quite entire; 

 corymbs densely contracted, If . w . H. Native of Armenia, 

 Caucasus, Iberia, and the Levant ; and on the mountains in the 

 island of Cois. Dufr. val. p. 42. V. cardamines, Bieb. fl. taur. 

 1. p. 24. ex Stev. obs. p. 67. Flowers red. 



Sisymbrium-leaved Valerian. Fl. June, July. Clt. 1824. 

 PL 1 foot. 



87 V. PETROPHILA (Bunge, Led. fl. ross. ill. t. 19. fl. alt. 1. 

 p. 54.) leaves all lyrately pinnate-parted : the terminal segment 

 the largest, oblong, all quite entire and obtuse ; stems sim- 

 ple ; flowers verticillately subracemose. If . H. Native of 

 Siberia, in rough stony places on the tops of Alps at the river 



Tschuja, against the mouth of the river Tschegan. Root 

 with long thick yellowish white fibres, emitting sarmenta. Leaves 

 glabrous, rather fleshy, the primary ones simple or auricled. 

 Flowers disposed in whorles of threes. Pappus of fruit grey- 

 ish violet. 



Rock-loving Valerian. PL J to ^ foot. 



88 V. ALTERNiFbLiA (Led. fl. alt. 1. p. 52.) cauline leaves 

 alternate, pinnate ; leaflets lanceolate-linear, downy beneath as 

 well as on the stem; flowers corymbose. Tf.. H. Native of 

 Siberia, near the city of Irkutzk. Stem erect, simple. Radical 

 leaves wanting in the specimen examined. Upper cauline leaves 

 sessile, but the petioles become gradually elongated to the base. 

 Genitals exserted. Corolla 5 -parted, cleft longitudinally. 



Alternate-leaved Valerian. PI. 1 to 1^ foot. 



89 V. DIOSCORIDIS (Sibth. et Smith, fl. graec. t. 33.) plant 

 glabrous, erect ; lower leaves lyrately pinnate, with ovate toothed 

 leaflets : the terminal one large ; upper leaves with equal lan- 

 ceolate toothed leaflets ; cymes crowded, panicled ; peduncles 

 dichotomous. 1. H. Native of Lycia. Roots tuberous. 

 Flowers pale red. 



Dioscorides' Valerian. PL 2 feet. 



* * * Species natives of Europe. 



90 V. SAMBUCIFOLIA (Mikan, in Rcem. et Schultes, syst. 1. 

 p. 351.) stems erect, striated, glabrous, pilose at the joints; 

 leaves all pinnate ; leaflets 4-5 pairs and an odd one : those of 

 the lower leaves ovate, and coarsely toothed, of the superior 

 ones oblong-lanceolate, toothed, and rather decurrent ; panicles 

 thyrsoid. I/. H. Native of Germany. Link, enum. hort. 

 berol. 1. p. 63. V. altissima, Horn. ? This is a larger plant in 

 all its parts than V. qfficinalis, and does not change by culture. 

 Flowers pink. 



Elder-leaved Valerian. Fl. May, June. Clt. 1819. PI. 2 

 to 4 feet. 



91 V. OFFICINA'LIS (Lin. spec. p. 45.) plant smoothish, erect; 

 stems furrowed ; leaves all or nearly all pinnate, with 7-8 pairs 

 of lanceolate serrated leaflets, and an odd one ; corymbs at 

 length panicled ; fruit glabrous. If. . H. Native of Europe 

 and Caucasus, in humid places, and about the banks of pools 

 and rivers ; plentiful in Britain. Dufr. val, p. 40. D. C. fl. fr. 

 no. 3315. Blackw. herb. t. 171. Woodv. med. hot. t. 96. 

 Heyne, arz. gew. 3. t. 32. Curt. lond. 6. t. 3. Sowerb. engl. 

 hot. 698. Oed. fl. dan. t. 570. V. sylvestris, Dodon. pempt. 

 349. f. 2. Phu, Column, phyt. 114. Phil Germanicum, Fusch. 

 hisl. p. 857. This is a very common and a very variable plant, 

 having the stem from 2 to 4 feet high, glabrous or pilose : the 

 lower leaves almost undivided, or all pinnate, with the leaflets 

 broader or narrower, and more or less decurrent, most often 

 toothed, very rarely quite entire, shining or opaque ; corymbs 

 contracted or loose ; but all these variations are hardly consi- 

 dered varieties. V. lucida, Hort. par. V. exc61sa, Poir. diet. 

 7. p. 301. V. altissima, Mikan in Bess. enum. p. 4. V. repens, 

 Host, austr. 1. p. 35. are only varieties of V. officinalis. Root 

 composed of long slender fleshy fibres, uniting into a head, and 

 sending out long fleshy creeping shoots from the crown. Leaves 

 bearded at the base on the under side. Flowers pale red, hav- 

 ing a singular odour. Pappus of seeds 12-rayed, purplish. In 

 high dry pasture heaths and woods, the plant becomes smaller 

 and more hairy, with the leaves narrower, and the roots more 

 highly aromatic and less nauseous. 



The roots have a strong, and to most people a disagreeable 

 smell ; its taste is warm, bitterish, and subacrid, communicating 

 its properties to wine, water, and spirit ; but it is best in sub- 

 stance, and may be taken from half a drachm to 2 drachms to a 

 dose. There is no doubt of its possessing antispasmodic virtues 

 in an eminent degree. It is often prescribed with advantage in 



