valerian
(vəˈlɪərɪən)
Also 4–5 valirian, 5 valarian, 5–6 valeryan(e, 6 valeriane.
[ad. OF. valeriane (mod.F. valériane) or med.L. valeriana (also It., Sp., and Pg.), app. the fem. sing. of the L. adj. Valerianus, f. the personal name Valerius.]
1. One or other of the various species of herbaceous plants belonging to the widely-distributed genus Valeriana, many of which have been used medicinally as stimulants or antispasmodics.
| c 1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 800 And herbes couthe I telle eek many oon, As egrimoigne, valirian, and lunarie. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 269 Poudre maad of þe rotis of valarian temperid wiþ wijn. c 1410 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) xii, An herbe..þat men calleth..in oure langage valeryane, þe whiche maketh men fnese. 1530 Palsgr. 284/1 Valeryan an herbe. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 339 There be two sortes of Valerian, the garden and wilde. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. ccxl. 1078 Generally the valerians are called by one name. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. xiii. 213 Valerian then he crops, and purposely doth stampe T' apply unto the place that's haled with the crampe. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. 67 Flowers in Prime... Syringa's, Sedum's,..Valerian, Veronica [etc.]. 1763 Phil. Trans. LIII. 199 The roots of Valerian are esteemed most medicinal, which are dug up in Oxfordshire and Glocestershire. 1782 J. Scott Poet. Wks. 100 Gay loosestrife there and pale valerian spring. 1822 Lamb Elia i. Praise Chimney-Sweepers, No less pleased than those domestic animals—cats—when they purr over a new-found sprig of valerian. 1866 Treas. Bot. 1201/1 Two Valerians are natives of this country. 1882 Garden 25 Mar. 204/2 Any one requiring a useful plant for some semi-wild garden ought to give the Valerian a trial. |
2. With distinctive terms: a. Denoting varieties of true valerian, as garden valerian, great valerian, little valerian, wild, etc., valerian.
Many varieties are enumerated in Parkinson Theatr. Pl. (1640) 120–2, Bradley Dict. Bot. (1728), Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. (1753), Johnson Gard. Dict. (1852), etc.
| 1548 Turner Names Herbes (E.D.S.) 62 The one is growing..in moyst plasshes and in morish groundes, and it is called in englishe wylde Valerian. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 339 Great wild valerian. Little wild valerian. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. 916 The tame or garden Valerian hath his first leaues long, broade, smooth, greene, and vndeuided. Ibid. 917 Valeriana Petræa, Stone Valerian. 1601 R. Chester Love's Martyr (1878) 83 Great wild Valerian and the Withie wind. 1629 Parkinson Parad. (1904) 386 Knobbed Mountaine Valerian. 1640 ― Theat. Pl. 119 The great Valerian hath a thicke short grayish roote. 1712 tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 42 The little Valerian has small Roots, of a good Smell. 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v., The great garden Valerian is an alexipharmic, sudorific, and diuretic. Ibid., The wild Valerian root is much more famous than this. 1790 Buchan Dom. Med. 427 Infusions of balm-leaves,..the roots of wild valerian, or the flowers of the lime-tree. 1872 Oliver Elem. Bot. ii. 192 The root of the Common Valerian possesses a strong and peculiar odour. 1890 Science-Gossip XXVI. 183 The handsome heart-leaved valerian (Valeriana Pyrenaica). |
b. red valerian, spur-valerian, or spurred (also † basil) valerian, = Centranthus ruber.
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. 551 Of Basill Valerian. Red Valerian hath beene so called of the likenesse of the flowers and spoked rundles with Valerian, by which name we had rather haue it called, then rashly to laie vpon it an vnproper name. 1640 Parkinson Theat. Pl. 122 This small red Valerian is very like unto the greater red Valerian. 1849 [see spurred a. 4]. 1855–63 [see spur n.1 14 b]. 1866 Treas. Bot. 247/1 The Red Valerian, C. ruber, formerly known as Valeriana rubra, offers a good example of the genus. 1899 Bridges Idle Flowers Poet. Wks. (1912) 352 With red Valerian And Toadflax on the wall. |
c. Greek († Greekish, Grecian) valerian, Jacob's ladder, Polemonium cæruleum.
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens iii. 340 The garden Valerian and Greeke Valerian are sowen and planted in gardens. Ibid., The Greekish Valerian hath two or three holow stalkes, or moe. 1629 Parkinson Parad. (1904) 388 The Greek Valerian hath many winged leaues lying vpon the ground,..very like vnto the wilde Valerian. 1682 Wheler Journ. Greece vi. 436 The Leaves were set upon a long stem, like to that which is called Grecian Valerian. 1785 Martyn Lett. Bot. xvi. (1794) 189 Greek Valerian or Jacob's-Ladder which has the corolla rather rotate. 1855 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. IV. 15 Blue Jacob's Ladder or Greek Valerian. 1858 Irvine Brit. Plants 477 Polemoniaceæ, the Greek Valerian Family. |
3. The drug derived from the rootstocks of the wild valerian or other species.
| 1794 Godwin Caleb Williams 29, I shall hate you as bad as senna and valerian. 1801 Med. Jrnl. V. 472 Internally valerian with opium [was] prescribed. 1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 347/2 It is curious that the Celtic and mountain nards are also Valerians, the former being yielded by Valeriana Celtica and Saliunca. 1843 Ibid. XXVI. 92/2 Valerian is considered a cerebro-spinal stimulant. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 604 Sedatives such as bromides and valerian..must be administered. |
4. attrib., as valerian oil, valerian root, valerian tea; valerian family, order, tribe, -worts, the order Valerianaceæ.
| a. 1747 Wesley Prim. Physick (1762) 49 A Teaspoonful of Valerian Root. 1783 Med. Comm. I. 214 She had taken the drops in the valerian tea. 1868 Watts Dict. Chem. V. 975 Crude valerian-oil is a mixture of several substances. 1874 Garrod & Baxter Mat. Med. 288 Valerian Root. The root of Valeriana officinalis, dried. |
| b. 1846 Lindley Veget. Kingd. 698 Valerianworts are principally distinguished from Teazelworts by their want of albumen. 1849 Balfour Man. Bot. §906 The Valerian Family. 1855 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. III. 160 The Valerian Tribe. 1857 Henfrey Bot. 315 The Valerian Order. |