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Valerianaceae Habit: Annual, perennial herb, occasionally strongly scented, odor generally unpleasant. Leaf: simple to pinnately lobed or compound; petioles generally sheathing; basal +- whorled; cauline opposite, petioled to sessile. Inflorescence: cyme, panicle, or head-like, generally +- dense. Flower: generally bisexual; calyx fused to ovary tip, limb 0 or lobes generally 5--15, coiled inward, plumose in age, pappus-like, spreading in fruit; corolla radial to 2-lipped, lobes generally 5, throat generally > lobes, > tube, base generally spurred or swollen, tube slender, long or short; stamens generally 1--3, fused to petals; ovary inferior, chamber generally 1, or occasionally 3 but 2 empty or vestigial. Fruit: achene, smooth, ribbed, or winged. Genera In Family: +- 17 genera, 300 species: generally temperate, worldwide except Australia. Some species cultivated (Centranthus), some medicinal (Valeriana). Jepson eFlora Author: Abigail J. Moore & Lauramay T. Dempster Reference: Bell & Donoghue 2005 Organisms Diversity Evol 5:147--159 Scientific Editor: Douglas H. Goldman, Bruce G. Baldwin. Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Key to Valerianaceae Previous taxon: Urtica urens Next taxon: Centranthus |