Caprifoliaceae FAMILY

Valeriana capitata

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

Some caution is advised with the use of this plant. At least one member of the genus is considered to be poisonous raw[ 161 Title Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. Publication Author Yanovsky. E. Publisher U.S. Depf of Agriculture. Year ISBN - Description A comprehensive but very terse guide. Not for the casual reader. ] and V. officinalis is a powerful nervine and sedative that can become habit-forming.

Botanical Description

Valeriana capitata is a herbaceous perennial plant with a long, creeping rhizome; it produces straight, stout stems around 15 - 30cm tall, occasionally up to 65cm[ 74 Title Flora of the USSR. Publication Author Komarov. V. L. Website http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org Publisher Israel Program for Scientific Translation Year 1968 ISBN - Description An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers. It can be downloaded from the Internet. ]. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food, medicine and source of materials.

Habitat & Origin

Origintemperate

Native RangeEurasia - north European Russia to Kazakhstan, east to the Russian Far East; Northwest N. America - Alaska and northwest Canada.

HabitatArctic zone and alpine mountain belt, on different types of tundras, on stony screes and rocks, clayey-rubbly slopes, stream banks, rivers and lakes, marshes, wet riverine meadows, willow groves and dwarf birch groves, wet and swampy forests[ 74 Title Flora of the USSR. Publication Author Komarov. V. L. Website http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org Publisher Israel Program for Scientific Translation Year 1968 ISBN - Description An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers. It can be downloaded from the Internet. ].