VALERIAN FAMILY. Valerianaceae. 



crimson dots on each side of the lowest lobe, three dark 

 brown anthers, and a calyx without a border. This is 

 rather pretty, growing in long grass in damp places, but 

 the flowers are too small to be effective. 



There are many kinds of Valerian, rather tall perennials, 

 chiefly of cool regions and some in the Andes. They are 

 more or less bad-smelling plants, especially the root; the 

 leaves mostly from the base and the small flowers in 

 terminal clusters, some of them perfect, some with stamens 

 and pistils on separate plants, some with the two sorts 

 mixed; the calyx with from five to fifteen bristle-like teeth, 

 curled up and inconspicuous in flower, but spread out and 

 feathery in fruit; the corolla white cr pink, more or less 

 funnel-form, with five nearly equal lobes; the stamens 

 three; the style sometimes with three minute lobes. The 

 name is from the Latin, meaning "strong," in allusion to 

 the medicinal properties. 



w . A very handsome and attractive plant, 



Valerihna much like the kind that is cultivated in 



sitchensis gardens. It grows from one to three feet 



White, pinkish tall, from a creeping rootstock, with 



smooth, juicy, hollow stems and handsome 

 Wash., Oreg. 



bright green foliage. The leaves are 



smooth and the leaflets of the stem-leaves are coarsely 

 toothed. The flowers are white or pinkish, with pink 

 buds, and are crowded in fine large, rather flat-topped 

 clusters. The stamens are long and give a pretty feathery 

 appearance to the cluster. The flowers are strongly sweet- 

 scented, but the roots usually have a horrible smell when 

 they are broken. V. sylvdtica looks much the same, but 

 the leaves are mostly toothless, and it is widely distributed 

 in the United States, both East and West, also growing in 

 Asia. Both are woodland plants, liking rich moist soil. 



. . tr , . An attractive plant, from three to nine 



Arizona Valerian . 

 Valeriana inches tall, with smooth hollow stems, 



Arizdnica smooth leaves, and pretty clusters of 



pin k flowers, but not nearly so large as the last, 



^pnng They are purplish-pink and slightly sweet- 



scented. This grows in crevices in the 

 rocks in moist places. 



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