Valeriana edulis var. ciliata

Native

Minnesota threatened species

Wet to moderate moisture. Calcareous fens, wet meadows, upland prairies, lowland prairies, railroads, cliff ledges, rock outcrops. Full sun.

May to mid-June

Cream

12″ to 20″

This is an erect, long-lived, perennial forb that rises from a long, stout, yellow, cone-shaped taproot and a short, branched caudex. It is usually 12″ to 20″ tall, though large individuals can be up to 48″ tall.

The stems are erect and hairless or nearly hairless.

Basal leaves are short-stalked, thick, linear to inversely lance-shaped, 4″ to 12″ long, and 3 ⁄16″ to 1 wide″. They are nearly parallel veined and usually unlobed, but rarely have 1 or 2 basal lobes. Young leaves are more or less hairy. The upper and lower surfaces of mature leaves are hairless. The margins are untoothed and have a dense fringe of hairs.

Stem leaves are few, opposite, stalkless, and shorter than the basal leaves. They are pinnately divided into a few ascending, lance-shaped or sickle-shaped lobes branching off of a broad, flat central axis.

The inflorescence is a long, dense cluster at the end of the stem. The cluster has many lateral branches which spread widely with age.

Male and female flowers are borne on separate plants, though a plant may have a few bisexual flowers. Male and bisexual flowers are 3 ⁄32″ to ⅛″ wide. Female flowers are about 1 ⁄32″ wide. The flowers have 5 cream-colored petals, 3 stamens, and a 3-lobed stigma. The sepals are modified into several to many feather-like segments that are rolled up when the plant is in flower. When the plant is in fruit the segments unroll and spread widely.

The fruit is a hairless, narrow, egg-shaped, 3 ⁄16″ long achene.

Eastern swamp saxifrage (Micranthes pensylvanica) has basal leaves and a leafless, hairy flowering stalk.

Garden heliotrope (Valeriana officinalis) has basal and stem leaves that are pinnately divided into 11 to 21 toothed segments.