Valerianaceae
Annual or perennial, soft-stemmed herbs, rarely shrubs; rhizomes often strong-smelling. Lvs opposite or radical, entire or lobed, often toothed; stipules 0. Fls bracteate, usually small and born in dense, many-flowered, terminal cymes, often zygomorphic, 5-merous, ⚥ or unisexual. Calyx toothed or lobed, epigynous, sometimes forming a pappus. Corolla sympetalous, funnelform, often swollen or spurred at base. Stamens 1-4, usually exserted; anthers 2-locular, dehiscing longitudinally. Ovary 3-locular but only 1 loculus fertile, ± inferior; ovule solitary, pendulous. Fr. dry, indehiscent, 1-seeded.
Key
1
Fls brightly coloured and conspicuous, each with 1 stamen; corolla spurred at base or gibbous near middle; pappus obvious at fruiting
Fls pale and small, each with 3 stamens; corolla spurless, sometimes slightly gibbous; pappus 0 (N.Z. spp.)
13 genera, c. 400 spp., Europe, Asia, Africa, America, mainly N. Hemisphere and S. America.
