VALERIANACE^-VALERIAN FAMILY 



COMMON VALERIAN 



Valeriilna officintlHs. 



Valeriana, a mediaeval Latin name of uncertain origin. 



The European garden species, producing the medicinal Valerian root; 

 also one of the characteristic plants of old gardens; especially prized 

 for the fragrance of its flowers. Grows in large clumps ; and has escaped 

 in New England and the Middle States to roadsides and thickets. 

 Perennial. May, June. 



Stem. — Erect, simple below, branching above, two to four feet high. 



Stem-leaves. — Opposite, pinnately compound; leaflets lanceolate or 

 linear, toothed or notched. Radical leaves larger. ■ 



Flowers. — Numerous, small, whitish, pinkish, or lavender, borne in 

 terminal and axillary cymose-paniculate clusters, fragrant. 



Calyx. — Small, the limb of several plumose bristles, like a pappus, 

 which are rolled up inward in flower, but unroll and spread as the seed- 

 like, one-celled fruit matures. 



Corolla. — Tubular or trumpet-shaped, small, five-toothed; tube 

 slightly swollen at the base. 



Stamens. — Three. 



Ovary. — One-celled; style two to three-lobed. 



Fruit. — An akene. 



Whoever, as a child, roamed in an old garden will remember 

 among the stately perennials that adorned and dignified the broad 

 central walk, clumps of Valerian which held an honored place 

 among the tiger-lilies and the perennial phloxes. At the ground 

 was a clump of finely cut foliage from which rose a number of 

 erect stems, each crowned with a confused and clustered mass of 

 white or pale-lavender, which mass upon inspection proved to be 

 made up of a great many tiny, tubular flowers. The general 



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