VALEKIANACE^. (VALEUIAX FAMILY.) 213 



nearly linear; earlier peduncles elonjjatcd and spreading in fruit, the later ones 

 sliort ; titl>e of the pnrijlish corolla not lom/ir than its loln's nor than the amjth. calijX' 

 lobes (\V lonjr). — Dry hills, W. Illinois and south westward. March -May. 



4. H. casi'tllea, L. (Bluets.) (^^Ai/^johs; stems erect, slender, sparingly 

 branched from the base (.3'- 5' high) ; leaves oblong-spatulate (."J" -4" long) ; 

 peduncle lilitbrni, erect ; corolla with tube much loni/cr than its l(Jtes or than those 

 of tlie calyx. (Oklenlandia cKrulea, cd. 2.) Moist and grassy places; produ- 

 cing from early spring to niitlsuniuier its delicate little flowers, light blue, pale 

 lilac, or nearly white with a yellowish eye. 



H. sERi'YLLiFoi-iA, Michx., — with similar flowers, but with slender 

 creeping stems, abounding in the mountains of N. Carolina, — may occur in 

 those of Virginia. 



H. ROTLXDiFOLiA, Miclix., — also Creeping, but with much larger round- 

 ish leaves, and axillary peduncles nodding in fruit, — belongs to the low country 

 of the Southern States, and may occur in S. E. Virginia. 



Order 51. VALERIANACEiE. (Valeriax Family.) 



Herbs, with opposite leaves and no stipules : the calyx-tube coherent with 

 the ovary, which has one fertile l-ovulerl cell and two abortive or empty ones ; 

 the staynens distinct, I - 3, fewer than the lobes of the corolla, and inserted 

 on its tube. — Corolla tubular or funnel-form, often irregular, mostly 5- 

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

 Fruit indeliisoent, 1-celled (the two empty cells of the ovary disappear- 

 ing), or 3-celleil, 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 antispasmodic.) — Repre- 

 sented by only two genera. 



1. VALERIANA, Toum. Valeriax. 



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 near tlie base, the ij-lobed limb nearly regular. 

 Stamens 3. — Perennial herbs, with thickened strong-scented foots, and simple 

 or pinnate leaves. Flowers in many species imperfectly dicecious, or iliniorphous. 

 (Name from valere, to have efficacy, alluding to the medicinal qualities.) 

 * Unot Jihrons : leaves thin. {Stems l°-S° hiyh ) 



1. V. paucifl6ra, Michx. Smooth, slemler, sureulose ; root-leaves ovate, 

 heart-slia/ied, toothed, pointed, sometimes with 2 small lateral divisions ; stem- 

 leaves piimate, with 3-7 ovate toothed leaflets ; branches of the panicled cyme 

 few-flowered ; tube of the (pale pink) corolla lony and slender {y long). — Wood- 

 lands, and alluvial banks, IVnn. (near Lancaster, Prof. Porter) ami Ohio to S. 

 Illinois and southward. June. 



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

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



