Hypertext Webster Gateway: "valerian"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Valerian \Va*le"ri*an\, n. [LL. valeriana, perhaps from some
person named Valerius, or fr. L. valere to be strong.
powerful, on account of its medicinal virtues: cf. F.
val['e]riane.] (Bot.)
Any plant of the genus {Valeriana}. The root of the officinal
valerian ({V. officinalis}) has a strong smell, and is much
used in medicine as an antispasmodic.
{Greek valerian} (Bot.), a plant ({Polemonium c[ae]ruleum})
with blue or white flowers, and leaves resembling those of
the officinal valerian.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
valerian
n : a plant of the genus Valeriana having lobed or dissected
leaves and cymose white or ink flowers
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.