VALERIANACE^E. 



Nat. syst. ed. 2. p. 265. 



NARDOSTACHYS. 



Limb of calyx 5-parted, lobes ovate-oblong, acute, leafy, some- 

 what toothed, permanent. Corolla regular, ecalcarate, obtusely 

 5-lobed, bearded in the throat. Stamens 4, attached to the 

 bottom of the corolla. Stigma capitate. Capsule 3-celled, 

 crowned by the lobes of the calyx, and almost shorter than they 

 are, not adnate to a bract. DC. 



963. N. Jatamansi DC. coll. mem. vii. t. 1. prodr. iv. 624?. 

 Royle illustr. 243. t. 54?. Valeriana Jatamansi Jones in as. res. 

 ii. 405. iv. 109. Don in Lamb, cinch. 180. ic. V. Spica 

 Vahl. enum. ii. 13. Patrinia Jatamansi Don prodr. nep. 159. 

 Nap^oe tvSiKr), Dioscorides. On the mountains of the north of 

 India, at considerable heights. (Spikenard.) 



A dwarf herbaceous plant with a long hairy tap root. Stems perennial, 

 very short, simply divided into a number of shaggy scaly crowns from 

 which the leaves proceed. Branches erect, a few inches high, downy. 

 Leaves obovate-lanceolate, 3-ribbed, downy; those next the root acute, 

 the upper ones obtuse. Flowers pale pink, clustered in the axils of 

 the upper leaves, which form a kind of involucre to them. This, the 

 true spikenard of the ancients, has been highly esteemed not only as a 

 perfume, but as a stimulant medicine. Oriental writers give it as a 

 remedy for a multitude of diseases, and it appears really to be valuable 

 in hysteria and epilepsy. 



VALERIANA. 



Limb of the calyx rolled up during flowering, then unrolled 

 into a deciduous feathery pappus, consisting of many plumose 

 setae. Corolla obconical or cylindrical, equal at the base or 

 gibbous, but without a spur ; limb bluntly 5-cleft, rarely 3-fid. 

 Stamens 3. Fruit indehiscent; when ripe 1-celled, 1-seeded. 



964. V. officinalis, Linn. sp. 45. Eng. Bot. t. 698. Fl. Lond. 

 t. 5. Woodv. t. 96. Smith Eng. Fl. i. 43. DC. prodr. 

 iv. 641. Wet places all over Europe, or even in dry pastures. 

 (Common Valerian.) 



Root tuberous, somewhat creeping, fetid, most aromatic when grow- 

 ing in dry pastures. Stem about 4 feet high, furrowed. Leaves pinnate ; 

 leaflets coarsely serrated, those of the radical leaves broadest, ap- 

 proaching to ovate. Panicles cymose, contracted. Bracteolae ovate- 

 lanceolate, acuminate, herbaceous, membranous at the edge, appressed, 

 rather longer than the ovary. Calyx superior, rolled inwards in the 

 471 H H 4 



