VALERIANA 



411 



for distilling the oil, as there is a loss of nearly 50 per cent, of the 

 oil ,in drying the rhizome and root for medicinal use. 

 DESCRIPTION or DRUG. Obconical, from 6 to 75 mm. Q>4 to 3 in.) in 

 length, with stem-remnants above, and beset with numerous rootlets; 

 those rhizomes grown in dry localities are smaller, nearly globular, 



FIG. 238. Valeriana officinalis Plant and rhizome. 



with lighter colored, thinner, and less shriveled rootlets, and contain 

 a greater proportion of volatile oil than those grown in moist ground; 

 the latter are generally sliced longitudinally. Externally brown, 

 internally pale brownish; odor strong, disagreeable, increasing 

 with age; taste camphoraceous and bitter. A cross-section shows 

 a rather thin bark, and a wood-circle, narrow, white, inclosing a large 



