Umbellifer (?) with pink flowers for ID :-)

[sunnydale]

Hi all

Ain't this a pretty one!


Leaves & stem....



Flowers...




I can't find it in my book

Thanks,

Tracey

[earthdragon64]

Try Common Valerian - Valeriana officinalis.

Regards, Audrey.

[sunnydale]

Thanks Audrey

I've seen lots of Red Valerian about but didn't know there was another sort!

Tracey

[Dorts]

Tracey, there are two native Valerians, your plant, Common Valerian, and also Marsh Valerian which is generally shorter and whiter with male and female flowers on different plants.

Red Valerian, an introduced plant and now common everywhere, isn't a true Valerian, it's a Centranthus.
(Why are things so complicated?)
Dorts.

[sunnydale]

Thanks for the info Dorts

Things are always complicated when there are males & females involved!

Tracey

[Dorts]

Originally Posted by sunnydale

Thanks for the info Dorts
Things are always complicated when there are males & females involved!
Tracey

'Many a true word spoken in jest!'
Dorts.

[Deb London]

I was puzzling over this plant recently, but didn't get chance to photograph for ID. Now I know what it is.

I read it has been/is used as a sedative and anxiolytic. I'm wondering if this was the valerian that featured in an episode of Misomer Murders.

I did smell it and thought it was peasant enough. I read that they distilled perfume from it in the 1500s. Although some people think it smells like unwashed feet , and it is thought to attract cats and rats by mimicking the odour of urine.

Possibly of interest to the fungal folk here, research has shown that its root is the strongest chemo-attractant of slime molds.

Quite an interesting character.

[sunnydale]

Originally Posted by Deb London

I'm wondering if this was the valerian that featured in an episode of Misomer Murders.

That programme is just too daft for words - but I just love it!

[earthdragon64]

There's also another introduced Valarian, Valeriana pyrenaica, Pyrenean Valerian which looks sort of similar to Common Valerian, but is a much bigger plant with really large leaves. The basal leaves in particular are huge.

Regards, Audrey.