Valeriana is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caprifoliaceae,[1] members of which may by commonly known as valerians. It contains many species, including the garden valerian, Valeriana officinalis. Species are native to all continents except Antarctica, with centers of diversity in Eurasia and South America (especially in the Andes).
| Valeriana | |
|---|---|
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| Garden valerian, Valeriana officinalis | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Dipsacales |
| Family: | Caprifoliaceae |
| Subfamily: | Valerianoideae |
| Genus: | Valeriana L. |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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List
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Taxonomy
The name of the genus comes from the personal name Valeria and the Latin verb valere (to be strong, healthy).[2][3]
Fossil record
Fossil seeds of Valeriana sp, among them †Valeriana pliocenica, have been recovered from Late Miocene deposits of southern Ukraine, from Pliocene deposits of south-eastern Belarus and Bashkortostan in central Russia. The fossil seeds are most similar to the extant European Valeriana simplicifolia.[4]
Species
As of December 2020[update], Plants of the World Online accepts over 420 species and hybrids, including:[1]
- Valeriana alypifolia
- Valeriana aretioides
- Valeriana asterothrix
- Valeriana bertiscea
- Valeriana buxifolia
- Valeriana californica
- Valeriana celtica (Alpine valerian or valerian spikenard)
- Valeriana cernua
- Valeriana coleophylla
- Valeriana dioica (marsh valerian)
- Valeriana edulis
- Valeriana fauriei (Korean valerian[5])
- Valeriana montana
- Valeriana occidentalis
- Valeriana officinalis (garden valerian)
- Valeriana pauciflora
- Valeriana pyrenaica (Pyrenean valerian)
- Valeriana secunda
- Valeriana sitchensis (Sitka valerian)
- Valeriana uliginosa
Gallery
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V. montana
References
- ^ a b c "Valeriana L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Archived from the original on 25 June 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ Harper, Douglas. "valerian". Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ^ Latin definition for: valeo, valere, valui, valitus Archived 2014-03-28 at the Wayback Machine. latin-dictionary.net
- ^ The Pliocene flora of Kholmech, south-eastern Belarus and its correlation with other Pliocene floras of Europe by Felix Yu. VELICHKEVICH and Ewa ZASTAWNIAK - Acta Palaeobot. 43(2): 137–259, 2003
- ^ English Names for Korean Native Plants (PDF). Pocheon: Korea National Arboretum. 2015. p. 668. ISBN 978-89-97450-98-5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2016 – via Korea Forest Service.
External links
Media related to Valeriana at Wikimedia Commons- USDA records of the distribution of the genus in the United States
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