VALERIANA dioica.
Small Marjh Valerian.
T R I A N D R I A Monogynia.
G en. C har. Cal. ncrae. Cor. of one petal, fuperior,
gibbous on one fide at the bafe. Seed one.
Spec. Char. Flowers dioecious, with three flamina.
R a d ic a l leaves o v a te ; th o fe on th e them pinnate.
Syn . V a le r ian a d ioica. Linn. Sj>. PI. 4 4 . Sm. FI.
Brit. 37. Hudf. 12. With. 65. Relh. 13. Sibth. 20.
Abbot. 8. Curt. Land. fafc. 4 . t. 3.
V . fylveftris minor, & V . fylveftris, feu paluflris,
minor altera. Matt Syn. 200.
F R E Q U E N T in moift boggy meadows, flowering in
June, and the roots are perennial.
Root creeping. Stem 6 or 8 inches high, ereft, Ample,
ftriatcd. Radical leaves ovate, on foctftalks, undivided; thofe
on the ftem oppoflte, pinnate, or rather pinnatifld in a lyrate
manner: all of them fmooth, and generally entire; but this
latt circumftance can by no means be confldered as a part of
the fpecific character, though Linnaeus has admitted it; for
even in his own fpecimens the leaves are decidedly ferrated.
A forked cymofe panicle terminates the ftem. The flowers are
of a pale bluth-colour, male on one root, female on the other;
for although fome flowers are frequently found with ftamina
and piftilla, both organs are fcarcely ever perfected in the fame
individual. The male plant is always fmaller and lefs robuft,
having a more tranfient function to perform than the other.
The feed is naked, below the flower, fumifhed when ripe with
a radiated feathery c row n .