228 VALERIANACE^E. (VALERIAN FAMILY.) 



lanceolate pungent leaves in whorls of 4 - 6, and small subsessile blue or pink- 

 ish flowers surrounded by a gamophyllous involucre. (Named for Dr. William 

 Sherard, patron of Dillenius.) 

 S. ARVENSIS, L. The only species ; sparingly naturalized from Eu. 



ORDER 53. VALEKIANACE^E. (VALERIAN FAMILY.) 



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

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

 the stamens distinct, 1 3, fewer than the lobes of the corolla, and inserted 

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

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

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

 ing), 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 antispasmodic.) 



1. VALERIAN A, Tourn. VALERIAN. 



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

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

 tures. Corolla commonly gibbous near the base, the 5-lobed limb nearly regu- 

 lar. Stamens 3. Perennial herbs, with thickened strong-scented roots, and 

 simple or pinnate leaves. Flowers in many species imperfectly dioecious or di- 

 morphous. (A mediaeval Latin name of uncertain origin.) 



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



1. V. 6 dull S, Nutt. Smooth, or minutely downy when very young ; stem 

 straight (1 -4 high), few-leaved; leaves commonly minutely and densely cili- 

 ate, those of the root spatulate and lanceolate, of the stem pinnately parted into 

 3-7 long and narrow divisions ; flowers in a long and narrow interrupted pani- 

 cle, nearly dioecious; corolla whitish, obconical (2" long). Wet plains and 

 prairies, Ohio and Ont. to Iowa, Minn., and westward. June. 



* * Rootjibrous; leaves thin. (Stems 1 -3 high.) 



2. V. sylvtica, Banks. Smooth or minutely pubescent; root-leaves 

 ovate or oblong, entire, rarely with 2 small lobes ; stem-leaves pinnate, with 3 - 

 1 1 oblong-ovate or lanceolate nearly entire leaflets ; cyme at first close, many- 

 flowered ; corolla inversely conical (3" long, rose-color or white). Wet ground, 

 Newf. to southern N. Y., N. Mich., westward and northward. June. 



3. V. paucifl6ra, Michx. Smooth, slender, surculose ; root-leaves ovate, 

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

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

 few-flowered ; tube of the (pale pink) corolla long and slender (' long). Woods 

 and alluvial banks, Penn. to S. 111., Mo., and Tenn. June. 



2. VAIiERIANELLA, Tourn. 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. Annuals an^ 



