VALEBIANACEAE. 277 



FAMILY 1. VALERIANACEAE. VALERIAN FAMILY. 



Annual or perennial, caulescent, succulent herbs. Leaves opposite: 

 blades entire or pinnately divided. Flowers in variously disposed cymes. 

 Calyx of 3-5 sepals, or sometimes pappus-like, or obsolete. Corolla of 3-5 

 partially united petals : tube often swollen or spurred. Androecium of 1-4 

 stamens : filaments adnate to the corolla-tube. Gynoecium 3-carpellary but 

 only 1 carpel fructiferous. Ovary inferior. Fruit a kind of leathery or 

 crustaceous nutlet. 



Sepals becoming bristle-like or awn-like : fruit 1-celled : tall herbs often with 



divided leaf-blades. 1. VALBRIANA. 



Sepals minute or wanting : fruit 3-celled : low herbs with un- 

 divided leaf-blades. 2. VALERIANELLA. 



1. VALERIAN A [Tourn.] L. Perennial heavy-scented herbs or vines. 

 Leaf -blades entire, toothed, or pinnatifid. Flowers perfect, in compact cymes. 

 Calyx with an inrolled limb which ultimately expands and develops 5-15 

 plumose bristles. Corolla funnelform or salverform. Stamens 3 or fewer. 

 Fruit 1-celled, the 2 abortive carpels appearing as 4 ridges. 



1. V. pauciflora Michx. Plants 1 m. tall or less: blades of the basal leaves 

 ovate or triangular-ovate, mostly toothed: bracts 4-8 mm. long: inflorescence 

 congested: corolla pale-pink; lobes less than as long as the tube: fruit 

 oblong, 5-6 mm. long. M. S. Bather rare, in rich woods. Limestones, 

 schists. Late spr. VALERIAN. 



2. VALERIANELLA [Tourn.] Mill. Annual, vernal, succulent herbs, 

 the stems dichotomous. Leaf-blades entire, toothed, lobed, or pinnatifid. 

 Flowers perfect, in clustered or corymbose cymes. Calyx shallowly lobed or 

 obsolete. Corolla funnelform. Stamens 3. Fruit with the abortive carpels 

 more or less elongate. Spr. and sum. CORN-SALAD. LAMB 'S-LETTUCE. 



Corolla blue or purplish : fruits about twice as broad as thick : species introduced. 



1. V. Locusta. 



Corolla white : fruits about as broad as thick : species native. 

 Fruits with the fertile portion fully as wide as the sterile 



portion. 2. V. radiata. 



Fruits with the fertile portion much smaller and narrower 



than the sterile portion. 



Empty cavities dilated and divergent, forming a saucer- 

 shaped body notched at both ends. 3. V. patellaria. 

 Empty cavities contiguous, with an oblong depression 



between them. 4." V. Woodsiana. 



1. V. Locusta (L.) Betcke. Stems 1-4 dm. tall: blades of the stem-leaves 

 oblong-lanceolate : corolla 2 mm. long : fruits about twice as long as thick. 

 N. M. Common, in thickets, meadows and waste grounds. Nat. of Eu. 



2. V. radiata (L.) Dufr. Stems 2-7 dm. tall: blades of the upper stem- 

 leaves oblanceolate to oblong or ovate : fruits obovoid-tetragonal. M. S. 

 Common, on moist banks and meadows. Limestones, schists. 



3. V. patellaria (Sulliv.) Krok. Stems 1-4 dm. tall: blades of the upper 

 stem-leaves similar to those of V. radiata: empty carpels of the fruits with a 

 saucer-shaped body notched at each end. M. Frequent, in meadows and low 

 grounds. Limestones. 



4. V. Woodsiana (T. & G.) Walp. In habit and leaves resembling V. radiata: 

 fruits about 2 mm. long, with the fertile portions much smaller and narrower 

 than the sterile, the cavities of this latter contiguous, with an oblong depres- 

 sion between them. Occasional, in low grounds. 



