34 
ACCOMMODATING DISPOSITION. 
RED VALERIAN. 
The red flowered valerian has but recently 
been introduced into our gardens from the 
Alpine rocks, where it grows naturally. Its 
appearance is showy, but always disordered. 
In its cultivated state it still has the bearing 
of a rustic, which imparts to it somewhat of 
the air of a parvenu; notwithstanding, this 
wild beauty owes its fortune to its merit. Its 
root is an excellent remedy for those diseases 
which produce weakness; an infusion of it 
strengthens the sight, re-animates the spirits, 
and drives away melancholy. It continues in 
flower nearly the whole year, and is much im¬ 
proved by> cultivation, though it never dis¬ 
dains its wild origin, but often quits our bor¬ 
ders to deck the sides of a barren hill, or to 
climb over old and ruined walls. The vale¬ 
rians of our woods and our fields possess 
greater medicinal virtues and as much beauty 
as this emblem of an accommodating disposi¬ 
tion ; but they are neglected by the florist be¬ 
cause they yield not so gracefully to his train¬ 
ing hand as that derived from the Alps. It is 
difficult to say whence it derives the name of 
valerian; Linnaeus supposes it to be named 
after a certain king, Valerius, whilst De Theis 
thinks it altered from the verb valere (to 
heal), on account of its medicinal qualities. 
