VALERIA.NA OFFICINALIS. 
211 
expands as the seed matures ; the corolla is tubular, swelling 
towards the base, and divided at the limb into five obtuse segments ; 
the stamens are three ; the filaments tapering, longer than the co^ 
rolla, and support oblong yellow anthers ; the germen is inferior, 
and supports a slender style, shorter than the filaments ; stigma 
trifid and bearded ; the capsule is crowned with a feathery pappus 
of ten rays, and contains one seed. 
It is doubted by some botanists if the Valeriana of Dioscorides 
and Galen, is the same plant as our indigenous species. Dr Sib- 
thorp, in his tour through Greece, ascertained the plant of the 
ancients to be a distinct species ; this plant has been figured and 
described by him, in his Flora Graeca, under the name of Valeriana 
Dioscoridis; * but we think it probable that the varieties and species 
of this plant may be so far changed by cUmate and soil, as to lose 
their specific characters, hence arises the difficulty in ascertaining 
the particular species so much celebrated by the Greek writers. 
The roots of the wild plant, which grow upon a calcareous soil, 
are said to be preferable to those of the cultivated ; they should be 
dug up for use in the autumn, when the leaves are decaying, or in 
the spring before the leaves expand, and carefully dried and pre- 
served in a dry place. 
Sensible AND Chemical Proiperties. The leaves of vale- 
rian have scarcely any smell, but a somewhat saltish taste ; the roots 
have a bitter and acrid taste, and a strong penetrating odour.f The 
watery infusion is of a deep red, and turns black with a sulphate of 
iron. By distillation with water, a small quantity of volatile oil comes 
over, of greenish-white colour, very light and liquid, having the 
smell and taste of camphor; by exposure to light it becomes yellow; 
a small portion of nitric acid converts it into resin, and a larger pro- 
portion into oxalic acid. The expressed juice of the root contains 
starch, extractive and gum ; the root when deprived of the juice, 
consists chiefly of woody fibre, combined with a portion of black 
coloured resin. I Valerian root gives out its quaUties both to alcohol 
and boiling water, and also to solution of pure alkalies. 
• Sibthorp, Flora Graeca, p. 24—33, 
f The smell of Valerian is said to be very delightful to cats ; rats also are equally 
fond of it, and rat-catchers employ it to allure them. 
t Thomson's Chemistry, 5th edit. vol. iv. p. 225. Annales de Chim. vol. Ixx. 
p. 95. 
