What's special about this flower

[WhiskyBottle]

What's special about this flower? It's sold 10 times in the last week in various forms. Is it tied to a national holiday, valentines day, or something somewhere in the world. They're not even particularly good photos.

Not that I'm complaining


Common Valerian - Valeriana officinalis

[artdemole]

Very prolific plant.Seen growing in old walls.Very good for a wild life garden.Insects butterflies moths all love it.Used in herbal remedys for sleeping annd relaxing.Colour varies white through to red.Good all round plant...

[davidbr]

Originally Posted by artdemole

Very prolific plant.Seen growing in old walls.Very good for a wild life garden.Insects butterflies moths all love it.Used in herbal remedys for sleeping annd relaxing.Colour varies white through to red.Good all round plant...

Common Valerian, Valeriana officinalis, is a plant of usually damp grassland with pale pinkish-white flowers. I wasn't aware of it being especially popular in gardens, it's not the showiest of plants.

The one you're thinking of, that tends to be common on walls and waste ground, is Red Valerian (Centranthus ruber) - that's the cottage-garden flower.

[BloomingMarvellous]

It's a great plant to take photo's of, I took loads last year. This plant goes through so many changes, when in flower it sometimes seems as if it's glowing, when the lights right.

The Flowers are very small but very beautiful, I bet people miss this little gem of a flower all the time because of it's size.

[Monkey Orchid]

Common valerian root can be used as an aid to sleep or as an anxiolytic, although prolonged or regular use is not recommended (it will have the opposite effect). It's usually sold as a tincture or capsules (powdered root). Like all herbal or 'natural' remedies, it should be used carefully: people have experienced withdrawal symptoms after coming off high or long-term doses.

My cat goes totally bananas at the smell of the dried root, it seems to have a similar effect on him as catnip!

It's also an important plant in some pagan traditions, e.g. druids, Wicca. Maybe some of your photo hits are from people keen to identify the plant for gathering purposes, either for herbal medicine or for lore.

[WhiskyBottle]

Don't know what it is... but it's sold again since starting this thread. Strange.