VALEKIANACE^E. (VALERIAN FAMILY.) 175 



lobed, the lobes imbricated in the bud. Style slender : stigmas 1-3. Fruit 

 indehiscent, 1-celled (the two empty cells of the ovary disappearing), 

 or 3-celled, two of them empty, the other 1-seeded. Seed suspended, 

 anatropous, with a large embryo and no albumen. Flowers in panicled 

 or clustered cymes. (Roots often odorous and antispasinodic.) Repre- 

 sented by only two genera. 



1. VALERIANA, Tourn. VALERIAN. 



Limb of the calyx of several plumose bristles (like a pappus) which are rolled 

 up inwards in flower, but unroll and spread as the seed-like 1-celled fruit ma- 

 tures. Corolla commonly gibbous at or above the base, the 5-lobed limb nearly 

 regular. Stamens 3. Perennial herbs, with thickened sti'ong-scented roots, 

 and simple or pinnate leaves. Flowers in many species imperfectly dioecious, 

 or dimorphous. (Name from valere, to have efficacy, alluding to the medicinal 

 qualities.) 



# Root fibrous : leaves thin. (Stems l-3 high.) 



1. V. psmciflorcl, Michx. Smooth, slender ; root-leaves ovate, heart- 

 shaped, toothed, pointed, sometimes with 2 small lateral divisions ; stem-leaves 

 pinnate, with 3-7 ovate toothed leaflets; branches cf the panic-led cyme few- 

 flowered ; tube of the (pale pink) corolla long and slender (%' long). Woodlands, 

 Ohio and W. Virginia, Kentucky, S. Illinois, &c. June. 



2. V. sylv&tica, Richards. Smooth or minutely pubescent; root-leaves 

 ovate or oblong, entire, rarely with 2 small lobes ; stem-leaves pinnate, with 5-11 

 oblong-ovate or lanceolate nearly entire leaflets ; cyme at first close, many- 

 flowered; corolla inversely conical (3" long, rose-color). Cedar swamps, W. 

 Vermont and New York to Michigan, and northward. June. 



* Root spindle-shaped, large and deep (6'- 12' long) : leaves thickish. 



3. V. edulis, Nutt. Smooth, or minutely downy when very young; stem 

 straight (l-4 high), few-leaved; leaves commonly minutely and densely 

 ciliate, those of the root mostly spatulate and lanceolate, of the stem pinnately 

 parted into 3-7 long and narrow divisions ; flowers in a long and narrow in- 

 terrupted panicle, nearly dioecious; corolla whitish, obconical (2" long). (V. 

 ciliata, Torr. $ Gr.) Alluvial ground, Ohio to Wisconsin, and westward. 

 June. Root with the strong sifiell and taste of Valerian : it is cooked and 

 eaten by the Oregon Indians. 



2. FE1>IA, Grertn. CORN SALAD. LAMB-LETTUCE. 



Limb of the calyx obsolete or merely toothed. Corolla funnel-form, equally 

 or unequally 5-lobed. Stamens 3, rarely 2. Fruit 3-celled, two of the cells 

 empty and sometimes confluent into one, the other 1-seeded. Anmials and 

 bienniuls, usually smooth, with forking stems, tender and rather succulent leaves 

 (entire or cut-lobcd towards the base), and white or whitish cymose-clustered 

 and bracted small flowers. (Name of uncertain derivation.) Our species all 

 have the limb of the calyx obsolete, and arc so much alike in aspect, flowers, 

 &c., that good characters are only to be taken from the fruit. They all have 



