There are many kinds of Valerian, rather tall perennials, chiefly of
cool regions and some in the Andes. They are more or less bad-smelling
plants, especially the root; the leaves mostly from the base and the
small flowers in terminal clusters, some of them perfect, some with
stamens and pistils on separate plants, some with the two sorts mixed;
the calyx with from five to fifteen bristle-like teeth, curled up and
inconspicuous in flower, but spread out and feathery in fruit; the
corolla white or pink, more or less funnel-form, with five nearly
equal lobes; the stamens three; the style sometimes with three minute
lobes. The name is from the Latin, meaning "strong," in allusion to the
medicinal properties.
[Sidenote: =Wild Valerian=
_Valeriàna sitchénsis_
=White, pinkish
Summer
Wash., Oreg.=]
A very handsome and attractive plant, much like the kind that is
cultivated in gardens. It grows from one to three feet tall, from a
creeping rootstock, with smooth, juicy, hollow stems and handsome
bright green foliage. The leaves are smooth and the leaflets of the
stem-leaves are coarsely toothed. The flowers are white or pinkish,
with pink buds, and are crowded in fine large, rather flat-topped
clusters. The stamens are long and give a pretty feathery appearance
to the cluster. The flowers are strongly sweet-scented, but the roots
usually have a horrible smell when they are broken. _V. sylvática_
looks much the same, but the leaves are mostly toothless, and it is
widely distributed in the United States, both East and West, also
growing in Asia. Both are woodland plants, liking rich moist soil.
[Sidenote: =Arizona Valerian=
_Valeriàna Arizònica_
=Pink
Spring
Arizona=]
An attractive plant, from three to nine inches tall, with smooth hollow
stems, smooth leaves, and pretty clusters of flowers, but not nearly so
large as the last. They are purplish-pink and slightly sweet-scented.
This grows in crevices in the rocks in moist places.
[Illustration: White Valerian--Valeriana sitchensis.]
[Illustration: Arizona Valerian--Valeriana Arizonica.]