VALERIANEiE. 



397 



monopetalous, tubular at the base, with 5 spreading lobes. Sta- 

 mens always fewer than the lobes of the corolla. Fruit small, 

 dry, and seed-like, with a single seed suspended from the top of 

 the cell, with the addition frequently of 1 or 2 imperfect or abor- 

 tive empty cells. 



A natural family, not large, but widely diffused over a great part of 

 the globe. Well characterized among inferior- fruited Monopetals by 

 the seed-like fruit and reduced number of stamens. 



Stamen 1. Tube of the corolla spurred at the base ... 1. Centranth. 

 Stamens 3. Tube of the corolla slightly swollen at the base 

 but not spurred. 

 Perennials. Fruit crowned by a feathery pappus . . 2. Valerian. 

 Annuals. Fruit crowned by a small, cup-shaped, or 



toothed border 3. Cornsalad. 



I. CENTRANTH. CENTRANTHUS. 



Habit, calyx, and fruit of Valerian. Corolla with a more slender 

 tube projected at the base into a little spur, and only 1 stamen. 

 A small genus from the Mediterranean and Caucasian regions. 



1. Red Centranth. Centranthus ruber, DC. (Fig. 477.) 



(Valeriana, Eng. Bot. t. 1531. Hed Valerian.) 



Perennial stock much branched, form- 

 ing when old an almost bushy, coarse 

 tuft ; the whole plant quite glabrous and 

 often somewhat glaucous. Stems stout, 

 1 to near 2 feet high. Leaves ovate- 

 lanceolate, entire or scarcely toothed. 

 Flowers numerous, red or rarely white, 

 in dense cymes, forming a handsome, 

 oblong terminal panicle. Tube of the 

 corolla 3 or 4 lines long, with a spur of 

 at least a line. Border of the calyx un- 

 rolling in the ripe fruit into a little 

 elegant, bell-shaped, feathery pappus. 



A native of rocky places in the Medi- 

 terranean region, but, long cultivated 

 for ornament, it has become naturalized 

 on old walls in most parts of central Eu- 

 rope, as in many localities in England 

 and Ireland. Fl. all summer. 



