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Valeriana

{{For|the ancient Mayan city|Valeriana (archaeological site)}}

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|image = Valeriana officinalis 002.JPG

|image_caption = Garden valerian, Valeriana officinalis

|taxon = Valeriana

|authority = L., 1753

|subdivision_ranks = Species

|subdivision =

|synonyms = {{collapsible list|

  • Aligera {{small|Suksd. (1897)}}
  • Amblyorhinum Turcz. (1852)
  • Aretiastrum (DC.) Spach (1841)
  • Astrephia {{small|Dufr. (1811)}}
  • Belonanthus {{small|Graebn. (1906)}}
  • Betckea {{small|DC. (1832)}}
  • Centranthus DC. (1805)
  • Dufresnia DC. (1834)
  • Fedia Gaertn. (1790), nom. cons.
  • Fedia {{small|Kunth (1819), nom. illeg.}}
  • Fuisa {{small|Raf. (1840)}}
  • Hemesotria {{small|Raf. (1820)}}
  • Hybidium Fourr. (1868)
  • Locusta Riv. ex Medik. (1789)
  • Masema Dulac (1867)
  • Mitrophora Neck. ex Raf. (1813)
  • Monastes {{small|Raf. (1840)}}
  • Ocymastrum Kuntze (1891)
  • Odontocarpa Raf. (1840)
  • Oligacoce {{small|Willd. ex DC. (1830)}}
  • Phu {{small|Ludw. (1757)}}
  • Phuodendron {{small|(Graebn.) Dalla Torre & Harms (1905)}}
  • Phyllactis {{small|Pers. (1805)}}
  • Plectritis {{small|DC. (1830)}}
  • Polypremum {{small|Adans. (1763), nom. illeg.}}
  • Porteria {{small|Hook. (1851)}}
  • Pseudobetckea {{small|(Höck) Lincz. (1958)}}
  • Rittera Raf. (1840), nom. illeg.
  • Saliunca Raf. (1840)
  • Siphonella {{small|Small (1903)}}
  • Stangea {{small|Graebn. (1906)}}
  • Valerianopsis C.A.Müll. (1885)

}}

|synonyms_ref =

}}

Valeriana is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caprifoliaceae, members of which may be commonly known as valerians. It contains many species, including the garden valerian, Valeriana officinalis. Valeriana has centers of diversity in Eurasia and South America (especially in the Andes), and is represented by native species on all continents except Antarctica.

Some species have been introduced to parts of the world outside their native range, including Valeriana rubra in the western United States[http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CERU2 USDA Plants Profile] and Valeriana macrosiphon in Western Australia.{{Cite web |url=http://florabase.calm.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/7366 |title=FloraBase Profile |access-date=2009-02-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524211657/http://florabase.calm.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/7366 |archive-date=2011-05-24 |url-status=dead }}

Taxonomy

The genus was named by Carl Linnaeus after the Roman emperor Publius Licinius Valerianus who was said to use the plant as medicine.{{cite journal |last1=Ilieva |first1=Iliana |title=Names of botanical genera inspired by mythology |journal=GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences |date=30 March 2021 |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=8–18 |doi=10.30574/gscbps.2021.14.3.0050 |url=https://gsconlinepress.com/journals/gscbps/content/names-botanical-genera-inspired-mythology|doi-access=free }}{{rp|16}} The emperor's personal name comes from Valeria and the Latin verb valeo which means "to be strong".{{OEtymD|valerian}}{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dvaleo |title= vălĕo |last1= Lewis |first1= Charlton T. |last2= Short |first2= Charles |dictionary= A Latin Dictionary |edition= |publisher= Perseus Digital Library |date = 1879 }}

32 previously recognized genera, including Centranthus, Fedia, and Plectritis, are now considered synonyms of Valeriana. Species in the former genus Centranthus are unusual in having flowers with "handedness", that is, having neither radial nor bilateral symmetry.{{cite book|last1=Weberling|first1=Focko|title=Morphology of Flowers and Inflorescences|date=1992|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-25134-6|page=19|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-ZlOAAAAIAAJ&q=valerian+flower+symmetry&pg=PA19}}

Botany

Valeriana species are herbaceous perennials with woody roots, producing stems bearing fine hairs and trifoliolate, pinnate leaves with serrated edges.The flowers are borne in cymes Drying leads to plant material developing a strong, musky odour which has been likened to that of the scent glands of male cats.{{cite book |last=Acevedo-Rodríguez |first=Pedro |date=April 2020 |chapter=Caprifoliaceae |chapter-url=https://naturalhistory.si.edu/sites/default/files/media/file/caprifoliaceae.pdf |title=Guide to the Genera of Lianas and Climbing Plants of the Neotropics |publisher=National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution }}

Fossil record

Fossil seeds of Valeriana sp, among them †Valeriana pliocenica, have been recovered from Late Miocene deposits of southern Ukraine, and from Pliocene deposits of south-eastern Belarus and Bashkortostan in central Russia. The fossil seeds are most similar to the extant European Valeriana simplicifolia (a subspecies of Valeriana dioica).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

Species

{{Main|List of Valeriana species|l1 = List of Valeriana species}}

{{As of|2024|7}}, Plants of the World Online accepts over 435 species and hybrids, including:{{cite web |title=Valeriana L. |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30000719-2 |access-date=1 August 2024}}

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Gallery

File:60 Valeriana officinalis.jpg|Valeriana officinalis

File:Valeriana montana Atlas Alpenflora.jpg|V. montana

References

{{Reflist|30em}}

External links

  • {{Commons category-inline}}
  • [http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=VALER USDA records of the distribution of the genus in the United States]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q159559}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Caprifoliaceae genera

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus

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