VALERIANA 



VALERIANELLA 



1895 



ill#§lsl 



suckers arising from the roots, soon forming large 

 colonies. The common species are often grown from 

 seeds. V. alba and V. rubra of the trade are no doubt 

 Centranthus ruber. 



A. Bootsiocks horizontal or ascending, with small 



fibrous roots. 

 R. Stem-leaves (at least the lower ones) pinnate or 



pinnatelij lobed. 

 officinalis, Linn. Common Valerian. Garden He- 

 liotrope. Cat's Valerian. St. George's Herb. Fig. 

 2632. Somewhat pubescent: stem erect, simple below 

 but somewhat branching above, 2-5 ft.: lvs. all pinnate, 

 with several to many 

 lanceolate to linear 

 acuminate toothed or 

 notched leaflets: fls. 

 numerous, whitish, 

 pinkish or lavender, 

 very fragrant. Eu- 

 rope, N. Asia. — The 

 medicinal valerian is 

 obtained mostly from 

 the roots of this spe- 

 cies. 



Phu, Linn. Gla- 

 brous, usually less 

 tall than the above: 

 root - lvs. simple ; 

 stem - lvs. lobed or 

 bearing 5-7 entire 

 leaflets: fls. whitish. 

 Caucasus. Var. au- 

 rea, Hort., has young 

 shoots golden yellow. 

 didica, Linn. 

 Marsh Valerian. 

 About 1-2 ft.: root- 

 lvs. oval, elliptic or 

 spatulate and entire, 

 long - stalked ; stem- 

 lvs. mostly pinnate 

 with entire leaflets 

 or divisions, the ter- 

 minal leaflet oval or 

 oblong and the lat- 

 eral ones smaller and 

 narrower: fls. mostly 

 unisexual, the sterile 

 ones the larger, all 

 pale rose color. Eu- 

 rope, in moist soil. 



Sitchensis, Bong. 

 A foot or less, the 

 rootstocks thick and 

 ascending : root-lvs. 

 ovate or oblong, sim- 

 ple or somewhat 

 lobed ; stem - lvs. 

 mostly 3-5-foliolate, 

 the divisions or leaf- 

 lets orbicular to ob- 

 long-ovate: fls. white, 

 very fragrant, in contracted cymes, the corolla about 

 % in. long. Rocky Mts. to Alaska. G.F. 9:515.— A very 

 early bloomer. 



bb. Stem-leaves not compound nor lobed, but some- 

 times dentate. 

 montana, Linn. Usually one ft. or less high, glabrous 

 or nearly so: root-lvs. oblong, oval or orbicular-oblong, 

 usually obtuse, somewhat dentate; stem-lvs. lanceolate- 

 acuminate, dentate or nearly entire : fls. bright rose, 

 dioecious. Eu. L.B.C. 4:317. 



aa. Bootstocks perpendicular, branching below. 

 edulis, Nutt. Two-4 ft., glabrous or nearly so: root- 

 lvs. oblanceolate or spatulate with margined petiole, 

 entire to pinnatifid; stem-lvs. few, sessile, parted into 

 linear or lanceolate divisions: fls. Yellowish white, in 

 an elongated panicle, more or less dioecious. Ohio to 

 Arizona and British Columbia, in wet or moist lands.— 



2632. Garden Heliotrope —Valeri- 

 ana officinalis (X%). 



The roots are eaten by Indians. The leaves are thickjsh 

 and strongly veined. 



The African or Algerian Valerian is Fi'dia Cornucbpice, 

 Gaertn. (Valeriana C'ornueopiie, Linn. Valerianella Conm- 

 eopise, Loisel.). It is an Algerian annual used for salad, after 

 the manner of corn salad. It does not appear to be in the 

 Amer. trade. Glabrous, branching, 1% ft. or less high: lvs. 

 oval-oblong, thickish, simple, somewhat toothed, those of the 

 stem clasping: fls. long-tubular, pink, in terminal clusters. 

 Cult, as for corn'salad, although it endures loss eohl. It thrives 

 well in warm weather when not allowed to suffer for water. 

 B.R. 2:155. — V. tripteris, Linn., of Europe, appears to have 

 been offered in this country, although little known here: about 

 1 ft. tall, glabrous: radical lvs. oval or cordate, dentate: stem- 

 lvs. with 3 leaflets or lobes, the terminal one large: fls. rose- 

 eolored, polygamous. L H B 



VALERIANELLA (diminutive of Valeriana). I'ale- 

 rian&cecv. Including Corn Salad or Fetticus. A 

 genus of nearly 50 species of annual, dichotornously 

 branched herbs, with a basal rosette of entire lvs. and 

 small white, bluish or pinkish fls. borne in terminal 

 cymes, which form compact globular or flatfish clus- 

 ters. Corolla nearly regular, 5-lobed; stamens 3: fr. 

 3-loculed, 2 of the locules being empty. These plants 

 are mostly native to the Mediterranean region. V. oli- 

 toria is the common Corn Salad and V. eriocarpa the 

 Italian Corn Salad. To the account given in this work 

 at page 376, the following may be added : 



Corn Salad is both a salad plant and a pot-herb, 

 chiefly the former. The name "Corn Salad" is prob- 

 ably derived from the fact that the plant grows spon- 

 taneously in the grain fields of Europe, large quantities 

 of it being gathered in early spring. It is rather taste- 

 less compared with lettuce, and is little known in 

 America. Abroad it is prized as a fall and winter salad. 

 It is a cool-season crop, grown like lettuce and matures 

 in 6-8 weeks. Plants should stand about 6 in. apart in 

 the row. An ounce of seed should give 2,000-3,000 

 plants. The following description of the varieties is 

 derived from Vilmorin's Vegetable Garden. 



olitdria, Mcench. Corn Salad. Lamb's Lettuce. Fet- 

 ticus. Fig. 2633. An "autumnal annual " herb, the seed of 

 which ripens in April or May, soon falls to the ground, 

 and germinates in August. The plant makes its growth 

 in the fall and flowers the following spring. In cultiva- 

 tion the seed is generally sown in early spring or late 

 summer. The plant forms a dense rosette of spoon- 

 shaped lvs. which grow in a decussate fashion, and has 

 an angular, forking stem bearing small bluish white 

 fls. in terminal clusters. Eu., Orient. — The Round- 

 Leaved variety has much shorter lvs. than the 



2633. Valerianella olitoria— Corn salad. 



common type and they are half -erect instead of spread- 

 ing, and less prominently veined. This kind is the 

 one grown almost exclusively for the Paris market. 

 The Large-Seeded variety is more robust than the 

 common type and the seed is nearly twice as large. 

 Lvs. marked with numerous secondary veins. Much 

 grown in Holland and Germany. The Etampes variety- 

 has very dark-colored lvs., which are often undulate 

 or folded back at the margins. Lvs. narrow, promi- 

 nently veined, thicker and more fleshy than the other 



