Valerian

“Valerian is an order of herbs or rarely shrubs belonging to the division of monopetalous dicotyledons having the stamens arising from the petals. The order is distinguished from its congeners by the opposite leaves; small irregular flowers. It contains 12 genera and about 190 species, distributed through Northwestern America, Europe, Northern Africa, and temperate Asia– unknown in Australia, and only one species South African. It has a penetrating odor, and a bitter, acrid, somewhat aromatic taste; when distilled with water it yields a volatile oil and valerianic acid. Cats have a strange liking for the odor, and it exercises a remarkable intoxicating or stimulating power over them; the plant is sometimes called cats’ valerian. It is often used to tempt cats to an unhappy fate."—(Charles Leonard-Stuart, 1911)

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