''Valeriana celtica'' is a species of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...

in the family

Caprifoliaceae 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 ...

. It is also known as Alpine valerian and valerian spikenard. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the

Eastern Alps Eastern Alps is the name given to the eastern half of the Alps, usually defined as the area east of a line from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine valley up to the Splügen Pass at the Alpine divide and down the Liro River to Lake Como in t ...

(''V. celtica'' subsp. ''norica'') and to the Graian and

Pennine Alps The Pennine Alps (german: Walliser Alpen, french: Alpes valaisannes, it, Alpi Pennine, la, Alpes Poeninae), also known as the Valais Alps, are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Switzerland (Valais) and Italy ...

. It grows as a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

herb tall. Along with '' Valeriana saxatilis'' and '' Valeriana elongata'', it forms a clade of dioecious plants. Until the 1930s, it was extensively harvested for export to

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

for use in perfumes. The root has been used as a

folk remedy Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...

as a nerve tonic.

Gallery

File:Atlas der Alpenflora (10055664615).jpg, ''V. celtica'' from '' Atlas der Alpenflora'', 1882 File:Valeriana celtica (Echt-Speik) IMG 5631.jpg, ''V. celtica'' in the wild File:Valeriana celtica (Echt-Speik) IMG 2616.jpg File:Valeriana celtica (Echt-Speik) IMG 2618.jpg File:Valeriana celtica (Echt-Speik) IMG 2623.jpg File:Valeriana celtica (Echt-Speik) IMG 5632.jpg File:Valeriana celtica (Echt-Speik) IMG 5635.jpg File:Valeriana celtica.jpg

References

External links

* * celtica Perfume ingredients Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Dioecious plants {{Dipsacales-stub