238 VALERIANACEAE. 



Tall perennial herbs. 355. Valeriana, 238. 



Low annual herbs. 356. Valerianella, 238. 



355. VALERIANA. Valerian. 



Tall perennial herbs, with strong-scented thickened roots; 

 leaves simple or pinnate; calyx-lobes of several plumose bristles 

 {pappus) which are rolled inward in flower but which unroll as the 

 fruit matures; corolla commonly gibbous near the base, 5-lobed, 

 nearly regular; stamens 3; abortive cell of the ovary small or 

 obscure, obliterated in the akene-like fruit which is therefore 

 1 -celled. 



Leaves thick; root large, fusiform; fruits pubescent. V. edulis. 

 Leaves thin; roots fibrous; fruits glabrous. 



Leaflets entire. V. occidentalis. 



Leaflets dentate. V. sitchensis. 



Valeriana edulis Nutt. Tobacco Root. Perennial from a stout tap-root; 

 stems erect, smooth, 40-90 cm. high; basal leaves tufted, petioled, spatulate 

 or oblanceolate, entire or pinnately parted into 3-5 narrow lobes, puberulent 

 or glabrous, usually finely ciliate, 10-40 cm. long; cauline 1-3 pairs, sessile 

 or nearly so, pinnately parted into linear or lanceolate segments, the upper 

 much reduced; flowers greenish-yellow, polygamo-dioecious, sessile, in small 

 cymes which are arranged in large loose panicles; fruit ovate, puberulent or 

 glabrous, 2-3 mm. long. Low ground, common; rank-smelling. 



Valeriana ocddentaUs Heller. Perennial from branched rootstocks; 

 stems 60-80 cm. high, puberulent below; basal leaves simple, elliptic-lanceolate, 

 obtuse, the blade as long as the petiole; cauline leaves short-petioled, bearing 

 about 9 lanceolate acute leaflets, the terminal one much the largest; flowers 

 creamy- white ; calyx glabrous, the lobes linear-lanceolate; corolla funnelform, 

 3-4 mm. long; stigma entire; fruit glabrous. Known only from the Craig 

 Mountains, Idaho. 



Valeriana sitchensis Bong. Perennial from stout rootstocks, glabrous 

 or nearly so; stems erect, 60-90 cm. high; basal leaves simple or trifoliolate, 

 the blades broadly ovate to orbicular; cauline 3-5-foliolate, the leaflets sessile, 

 ovate to oblong, coarsely sinuate to sinuate-dentate; flowers whitish or pinkish, 

 in dense umbels; calyx sparsely pilose; corolla funnelform, 6-7 mm. long; 

 stigma entire; fruit glabrous. High altitudes. Blue Mountains, Horner. 



356. VALERIANELLA. 



Low annual dichotomously branched herbs; leaves tender, 

 rather succulent; flowers small, bracted, whitish, cymosely clus- 

 tered; calyx merely toothed or teeth obsolete; corolla funnel- 

 form, manifestly or obscurely 2-lipped; stamens 3, rarely 2; 

 fruit 1-celled, 1-seeded. 



Valerianella macrocera (T. & G.) Gray. Annual, erect, simple or 

 loosely branched, 10-30 cm. high, wholly glabrous; leaves only a few pairs, 

 sessile, oblong or oblong-obovate, entire, 1-3 cm. long; flowers pink, in a 

 terminal globose or oblong head or in several whorled clusters; corolla 4 mm. 

 long, the spur one-half as long as the tube or longer, frequently adnate to it; 

 lobes nearly equal, rounded; fruit glabrous or puberulent, deep-saucer-shaped, 

 2 mm. long. Stony hillsides, common. 



