VALERIAN
Valeriana officinalis
COMMON NAMES: Great wild valerian, setwell, capon’s tail.
FEATURES: The genus Valeriana incorporates many species of herbs or shrubs growing in Africa, Britian,
Greece, the United States, etc. The flowers have five-parted perianths and funnel-shaped, shortspurred
corollas that are generally of a pale rose color, flowering June to August. The calyx, which is
rudimentary, when in flower becomes a feathery pappus at the top of the fruit. The plant is often cultivated
in gardens for its flowers and its root. It has an erect, round, pale greenish stem, 2–5 feet long. The leaves
are simple or pinnate, without stipules; ascending rhizome, with many fibrous roots. Has a warm,
camphoraceous, slightly bitter, somewhat acrid, and nauseous taste growing stronger with age. Cats are
very fond of the odor of valerian and tear the plant to pieces and roll in it. They are said even to dig up
the roots and devour them. The root as trap bait attracts rats if you don’t have a cat around to catch them.
Found in many damp places, low-lying meadows and woods, along banks of rivers and lakes, and in
marshy, swampy ground generally. The carrotlike roots of Valeriana edulis, a tall glabrous plant of the
western United States with undivided stem leaves and yellowish-white flowers in elongated panicles, are
eaten by Native Americans either raw or dried. The Piautes even grind them into flour to use in the form
of bread or mush. To this day in northern England the dried root is used in broths, porridge, and meats as
a counterpoison and medicinal preservative against pestilence, as are treacles, mithridates, etc. Besides
valerianic acid the root contains starch, albumin, valerian yellow extractive matter, balsamic resin,
mucilage, valerianate of potash, malates of potash, lime, phosphate of lime, and silica.
MEDICINAL PART: Root.
SOLVENT: Water.
BODILY INFLUENCE: Antispasmodic, calmative, stimulating tonic, nervine.
USES: Valerian is used by herbalists today as a nerve tonic. Is best combined with skullcap (Scutellaria),
blue vervain (Verbena hastata), and mistletoe (Viscum album). Gentian (Gentiana lutea) and peppermint