''Valeriana californica'' is a species of flowering plant in the

honeysuckle family The Caprifoliaceae or honeysuckle family is a clade of dicotyledonous flowering plants consisting of about 860 species, in 33, to 42 genera, with a nearly cosmopolitan distribution. Centres of diversity are found in eastern North America an ...

known by the common name California valerian. It is native to

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

, northeastern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, where it occurs in moist, forested mountain habitat. It is an erect herb up to half a meter tall with whorls or opposite pairs of deeply lobed leaves at intervals along stem. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

is a cyme of many funnel-shaped white or pink-tinged flowers each about half a centimeter long with three long, protruding stamens. The fruit is a ribbed achene about half a centimeter long which may be tipped with the featherlike remains of the flower

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coine ...

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
californica Flora of California Flora of Nevada Flora of Oregon Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Dipsacales-stub