680 



VALERIANEJE. IX. VALERIANA. X. BETCKEA. XI. TRIPLOSTEGIA. DIPSACE.E. 



hysterical cases ; and instances are not wanting where it appears 

 to have removed some obstinate epilepsies. In habitual costive- 

 ness it is an excellent medicine. The unpleasant flavour of 

 valerian is best concealed by a small addition of mace. A tinc- 

 ture of the root in proof spirit, and in volatile spirit, is ordered 

 in the London Pharmacopaeia. Dr. Cullen says, that if it has 

 sometimes failed, it is from the disease depending upon different 

 causes, or the root being frequently employed in an improper 

 condition, or in doses not large enough. It is well known that 

 cats are much delighted with the roots. Dr. Stokes informs us, 

 that rats are equally fond of them, and that rat-catchers employ 

 them to draw the rats together. 



Officinal Valerian. Fl. June, July. Britain. PI. 1 to 4 ft. 



92 V. SITCHE'NSIS (Bongard, in mem. acad. imp. Petersb. 2. 

 p. 145.) stem erect, glabrous, but pilose at the nodi ; lower 

 leaves ternate : superior ones pinnate, with 2 pairs of ovate, 

 acuminated, coarsely toothed segments or leaflets; corymbs 

 dense, contracted. I/. H. Native of the island of Sitcha, 

 where the roots are used by the natives as a precious medicine. 

 Very nearly allied to V. sambucifolia and V. officinalis. 



Sitcha Valerian. PI. 2 to 3 feet. 



93 V. ANGUSTIFOLIA (Tausch. ex Host, fl. austr. 1. p. 36. 

 but not of Cav.) plant downy, erect ; stems furrowed ; leaves 

 pinnate ; leaflets linear-lanceolate, obtuse, ciliated, quite entire, 

 the 3 terminal ones confluent, y.. H. Native of Bohemia, 

 on hills and mountains. Flowers rose-coloured. Root like that 

 of V. officinalis. 



Narrow-leaved Valerian. PI. 1 to 2 feet. 



* * * * A species native of the Cape of Good Hope. 



94 V. CAPE'NSIS (Thunb. prod. p. 7. fl. cap. p. 33.) plant 

 glabrous, erect ; stem striated ; leaves pinnate ; segments or 

 lobes alternate ? ovate-toothed, acute, the odd one the largest ; 

 corymbs panicled. I/ . G. Native of the Cape of Good Hope, 

 in valleys on the mountains. Habit of V. officinalis, but differs 

 from it in the shorter lobes of the leaves. The roots are used 

 in the same way as V. officinalis. Stem pilose at the joints. 



Cape Valerian. PI. 1 foot. 



f Species not sufficiently known. 



95 V. LEUCOPH.E'A (D. C. prod. 4. p. 641.) V. orientalis mi- 

 nima flore leucophsea, Tourn. cor. p. 6. Allied to V. tuberosa, 

 ex Stev. obs. p. 67. but the bracteas are long and distant. 

 Flowers dusky. 



Dusky-flovtered Valerian. PL 1 foot. 



96 V. ANGUSTILOBA (D. C. prod. 4. p. 641.) V. orientalis 

 angustifolia, floribus et radice Valerianse hortensis, Tour. cor. 

 p. 6. This plant is nearly allied to V. officinalis, but differs in 

 the narrower leaves. 



A r arro)B-fofeed-leaved Valerian. PL 2 to 3 feet. 



Cult. All the hardy species thrive well in any common gar- 

 den soil, and are easily increased by dividing at the root. Many 

 of them are very ornamental border-flowers. The tender kinds, 

 or those from warmer climates, should be grown in pots, in a 

 mixture of peat, sand, and loam, so that they may be protected 

 in winter by placing them in a frame or green-house. 



X. BE'TCKEA (named after M. Betcke, who has described 

 many species of Valerianella). D. C. coll. mem. vii. prod. 4 

 p. 642. 



LIN. SYST. Tridndria, Monogynia. Limb of calyx 1 -toothed, 

 deciduous. Corolla funnel-shaped, 5-lobed. Stamens S. Fruit 

 1 -celled, triquetrous, naked at the apex. Seed 1, conforming to 

 the fruit, and filling the cell. Glabrous, annual, simple, erect 

 herbs. Leaves undivided. Flowers small, white. Habit of a 

 species of Valerianella. 



1 B. SAMOLIFOLIA (D. C. prod. 4. p. 642.) lower leaves obo- 

 vate-oblong : upper ones ovate-roundish, sessile, stem-clasping ; 

 cymes small, on short peduncles in the axils of the leaves ; 

 bracteas oblong. Q. H. Native of Chili, in mountain pastures 

 near La Punta de Cortes, and about Valparaiso and Conception. 

 Valeriana seu Fedia samolifolia, Bert, in litt. 1829. and in bull, 

 sc. 1830. p. 111. Habit of Samblus or Claytbnia. 



*Samolus-leaved Betckea. PL -j foot. ? 



2 B. ? GILLIE'SII (Hook, et Am. in hot. misc. 3. p. 366.) 

 plant quite glabrous ; root tufted, woody ; radical leaves round- 

 ish-elliptic, almost 3 times shorter than the petioles, quite entire; 

 scapes about equal in length to the leaves ; flowers in crowded 

 heads; fruit glabrous, lanceolate, angular; limb of calyx short, 

 urceolate. Native of Chili, in clefts of rocks near La Casa de 

 Piedro, and the Andes of Mendosa, forming dense masses. B. 

 samolifolia, Gill, but not of D. C. There is on the scape usually 

 one pair of floral leaves : from the axil of each arises a head of 

 flowers, in addition to the terminal one ; and these three heads 

 are often so close as to appear like one. This is probably not a 

 species of Belckea ; its fruit is not triquetrous, nor is the limb 

 of the calyx 1 -toothed and deciduous; but the fruit is still 1- 

 seeded. 



Gillies's Betckea. PL | foot. 



Cult. The seeds will only require to be sown in the open 

 ground in May, in a sheltered situation. 



XI. TRIPLOSTE'GIA (rpin-Xooc, triploos, triple, and art-yog, 

 stegos, a covering ; the flowers are clothed by 3 coverings, a 

 double involucrum and the calyx). Wall. cat. no. 436. D. C. 

 coll. mem. vii. prod. 4. p. 642. 



LIN. SYST. Tridndria, Monogynia. Flowers covered by a 

 triple tegument, a double involucrum, and the calyx. Outer in- 

 volucrum 4-parted and 4-keeled : inner one tubular, 8-toothed, 

 and 8-ribbed. Calyx adhering to the ovarium, with a small 4- 

 toothed limb. Corolla funnel-shaped, 5 -cleft, not gibbous at 

 the base, nor spurred. Stamens 3, rising from the base of the 

 tube; anthers a little exserted. Stigma capitate. Utriculus 1- 

 seeded, beaked, covered by the double involucrum, and crowned 

 by the teeth of the calyx, downy. An Indian herb. Root long, 

 fibry, scentless. Stems obsoletely 4-furrowed, simple or spar- 

 ingly branched, bearing longish articulated hairs towards the top, 

 which are tipped with glands. Leaves approximate at the base 

 of the stem, oval-lanceolate, toothed, pinnatifid, downy above, 

 and rather villous beneath, petiolate ; cauline leaves few, pin- 

 natifid, small. Corymbs or panicles clothed with glandular 

 down. Flowers small, by threes, downy. 



1 T. GLANDULIFERA (Wall. 1. c.) I/. H. Native of Nipaul, 

 on mountains about Gosaingsthan, growing along with Nardo- 

 stachys. 



Gland- bearing Triplostegia. PL ^ to 2 feet. 



Cult. This plant should be grown in a pot, in a mixture of 

 loam, peat, and sand, and placed among other alpine plants. It 

 may be propagated by dividing at the root, or by seed. 



ORDER CXXXII. DIPSA'CE^E (the plants contained in this 

 order agree with the genus Dipsacus in several important cha- 

 racters). Vaill. mem. acad. par. 1722. D. C. fl. fr. 4. p. 221. 

 Coult. dips. diss. 4to. geneva, 1823. et emend, ined. in litt. 

 1824. D. C. prod. 4. p. 643. Dipsacearum genera, Juss. and 

 Adans. 



Tube of calyx closely girding the ovarium (f. 118. d.\ 

 Limb of calyx variable, short or elongated, entire (f. 117. g.), 

 toothed, or ending in numerous variable bristles (f. 118. rf.) 

 which are usually plumose, and pappus- formed. Corolla gamo- 



