Valerianaceae, the valerian family of the teasel order (Dipsacales), containing about 10 genera and more than 400 species of annual and perennial herbs, a few outstanding as ornamentals, salad or pot herbs, and as sources of medicines and perfumes. Greek valerian refers to Jacob’s ladder (Polemonium caeruleum), in the phlox family (Polemoniaceae). The true valerian—native to the temperate zones, the Andes Mountains, and Africa—have three- to five-lobed tubular flowers, often spurred at the base and clustered in tight heads. The sepals are either absent or bristle-like. The leaves may be simple or divided.
The largest genus, Valeriana, contains about 200 species and is best known for common valerian, or garden heliotrope (V. officinalis), occasionally as tall as 1.5 metres (5 feet). The species is native to Eurasia and is naturalized in North America, where other members of the genus are native. It has divided leaves and sweetly fragrant, pinkish-white heads of small blooms. The scent of the flowers is the source of its popular name, for common valerian is not a true heliotrope (the genus Heliotropium belongs to the family Boraginaceae). A spicy perfume extracted from the roots sometimes is used as a substitute for spikenard. A sedative and carminative also is obtained from the roots.
Two Mediterranean species of the genus Valerianella, grown for their long, undivided leaves that are used in salads and as pot herbs, are corn salad (V. olitoria) and Italian corn salad (V. eriocarpa). The genus has about 80 members, mostly Eurasian; a few are native or naturalized in North America. Red valerian, or Jupiter’s-beard (Centranthus ruber), native to the Mediterranean, is widely naturalized in British meadows, roadsides, and on walls. Its billowy masses of tiny, fragrant, pink, white, or red blooms are borne on stems sometimes reaching 90 cm (3 feet). Other ornamental species are Fedia cornucopiae, an annual with red flower clusters from the Mediterranean; Plectritis congesta, a rose-pink flowered annual from northwestern North America; and members of the Eurasian genus Patrinia, perennials with yellow or white flowers.