56 VALERIANACEAE 
Family 145. VALERIANACEAE.* 
i eooteray ceca 
usually more or less zygomorphic, the tube narrow, often gibbous or spurred at the 
base. Stamens 1-4, epipetalous. Ovary inferior, 1-3-celled with a solitary pendulous 
ovule. Seed without endosperm, the embryo straight and with oblong cotyledons. 
A family me — 10 genera and 370 species of wide geographic distribution, but most abundant in the 
northern hemisph 
laa m3 — gibbous or spurred, white, pink, or bluish, less than 1 cm. long (except Valeriana columbiana). 
of plumose bristles in the fruit; native perennials with rhizomes or a ot 
 Woleitaiin. 
Calyx- it on annual species. 
Flow cymose clusters forming . more or less flat-topped inflorescence; stem laa ao * eed: 
woth als, sive from Europe. Val nella, 
Wiese “aie clustered in vaifiahe or interrupted, spike-like inflorescences; nate e gnmual_ species. 
ectritis. 
Stamens tae. Derails ad = jong spur, usually magenta or red (rarely white), more than 1 cm. long; perennial, 
adve e from Eur 4. Kentranthus. 
1. VALERIANA} [Tourn.] L. Sp. Pl. 31. 1753. 
Perennial, strong-smelling herbs from rhizomes or taproots. Leaves decussate, basal 
and cauline, spatulate and undivided to deeply pinnatifid. Pdlitetcnees thyrsifor rm 
Flowers perfect, gyn ioecious or polygamodioecious. Calyx initially involute, later 
u 
So 4, epipetalous. Ovary inferior, 3-carpellate with 1 fertile adaxial cell at maturity. 
dean cypsela with 3 abaxial and 3 adaxial veins. [Named for the Roman emperor 
alerianus. ] 
A genus of about — le pre in both hemispheres, chicky, _ the boreal and temperate regions but also in 
the aes: in the mountain , Valeriana officinalis L. 
Leaves mostly — — petiolate; plants from rhizomes or stolon: 
Leaves Het pesnlly.# stad spatulate in outline; corolla funnelform to pain dens 3-19 mm. long, the tube 
° y wit 
ens ex ened. ete than the corolla-lobes; corolla- nade less than half the length of the tube. 
es ascending-ciliate, _ Alediggeee 1 lobe linear ae ic or oblanoeslaie, the lateral lobes of the 
a leaves in 8-1 ; adventiv bag esd uro V.. officinalis. 
Leaves glabrous or with cred €: pubescen 
Pics telatively ro robust 0 dm. tall; = least the lower cauline ot petioles. glabrous or 
Plants fol mapblanyd sleudiaie r, 1-6 dm. tall; cauline leaves essentially Ay a and Spe Sed ad the 
stem and/or the leaves sebacdlent V. capitata califor 
Stamens included, shorter than the corolla-lobes; corolla-lobes 3-6 mm. long about half ‘the edu of 
ube Wenatchee Mountains of Washi ington. . V. columbian 
Leaves mostly oblong in Pompe corolla subrotate to rotate, 2.0-3.5 mm. ca ge tube oot ‘‘grxiant or 
iaietinces gibbou 
ants — sa t and leafy, 3-9 dm. tis Pde sparsely to densely Pyar: sae a glabrous; 
northern California through Or V.. occidentalis 
Plants relail dy slender and less leafy, 1.5—4.5 in tall; fruits glabrous; A Sage then 
ape ok atic 
Leaves mostly Higuinte-spatulate, gradually decurrent to the clasping leaf-bases (the seri often sinestiha 
but more or s decurrent) ; plants from vertical, usually forked taproots. 7 Paik 
. V. edulis. 
1. Valeriana officinalis L. Valerian or All-heal. Fig. 5053. 
Valeriana officinalis L. Sp. Pl. 31. 1753. 
_— from a short perennial rhizome, pilosulose to short-pilose toward the base, glabrescent 
Leaves mostly cauline, petiolate below w, sessile above, oblong to oblong-ovate, pinnate to 
Pinnatifd 9-36 cm. long, gl abrous to short-pilose, particularly on the veins beneath, glabrous 
ve, oe ira Pog eee lateral lobes 4-8 pairs, linear to oblanceolate, acute, more or less 
rseidoet 2.0-7.5 cm. long, 0.5-3.0 cm. pale the terminal lobe two-thirds as long but as wide 
as the lateral con: basal leaves 15-30 cm long ; inflorescenses thyrsiform with perfect flowers; 
‘ext contributed by Richard William Holm 
; Thies treatment is based largely on the monograph of F. G. Meyer, ie: Mo. Bot. Gard. 38: 377-503. 1951. 
