Valeriana officinalis subsp. sambucifolia

Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A., 1976, Flora Europaea. Volume 4. Plantaginaceae to Compositae (and Rubiaceae), Cambridge University Press : 53

(c) Subsp. sambucifolia (Mikan fil.) Čelak., Prodr. FI. Böhm. 270 (1871)

(K sambucifolia Mikan fil., V. excelsa Poiret ):

Plant with both epigeal and hypogeal stolons. Stems glabrous, with 4-9 pairs of leaves. Middle cauline leaves with 5-9 lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, dentate leaflets, the terminal distinctly wider than the middle lateral leaflets. Corolla 4-8 mm. Fruit 4-5 mm. 2/2 = 56. Damp, shady places. N., N. C. & E.C. Europe, extending locally to N. Italy and C. Jugoslavia.

V. salina Pleijel , Acta Horti Berg. 8: 80 (1925) ( V. murmanica Orlova ), from Fennoscandia (coastal except in the Arctic), is morphologically intermediate in some ways between subspp. (a) and (c), and has In = 56.

Several taxa, including V. pratensis Dierbach ex Walther , Mitt. Thür. Bot. Ges. 2, Beih. 1: 83 (1949), non (Bentham) Bentham ex Steudel, from the upper Rhine basin, and V. stolonifera Czerń. , Bull. Soc. Nat. Moscou 18(2): 133 (1845), from E.C. Europe and S.W. part of U.S.S.R., differ from subsp. (b) chiefly in having glabrous stems; their status is uncertain.

V. versifolia Brügger , Jahresb. Naturf. Ges. Graubündens 29: 98 (1886), from the Alps, differing from subsp. (b) chiefly in having the middle cauline leaves with only 11-17, more or less lanceolate leaflets, the terminal slightly wider than the lateral, is somewhat intermediate between subspp. (b) and (c); similar plants from the E. Pyrenees, but more strongly pubescent and with simple (not compound) basal leaves have been called V. hispidula Boiss. , Diagn. Pl. Or. Nov. 1(3): 56 (1843) ( V. officinalis subsp. hispidula (Boiss.) Nyman ).

V. repens Host , FZ. Austr. 1: 35 (1827) ( V. procurrens Wallr. ), from W. & W.C. Europe, differs from subsp. (c) chiefly in having the stems hairy at least below and the middle cauline leaves with 5-17 leaflets; it has 2/2 = 56, and may perhaps be considered as a fourth subspecies.

1 is cultivated on a small scale in many parts of Europe for its rhizome which yields the drug valerian. This drug has also been obtained from V. phu L. , Sp. Pl. 32 (1753), a species of uncertain origin but said to be native in N. Anatolia. It resembles 1, but differs in having mostly undivided basal leaves and terete stems; it has been recorded in various parts of Europe as an escape from cultivation, but does not appear to be fully naturalized.