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Centranthus ruber

Common name:	Red Valerian	Family:	Valerianaceae
Author:	(L.)DC.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Europe. Naturalized in Britain[17].
Habitat:	Waste land, rocks, old walls etc[4]. Prefers alkaline conditions[268].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	C. rubra[HORTIPLEX] Kentranthus ruber[H] Valeriana rubra[G,H]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Bouncing Bess [H], Bovisand Soldier [H], Delicate Bess [H], Drunken Sailor [H], Jupiter's Beard [H,P], Jupiter's-beard [B], Milamores [E], Pink Valerina [H], Pretty Betsy [H], Red Valerian [H], Red-spur Valerian [H],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	ruber = red;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Dipsacales. Valerian family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Spain

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.9m by 0.6m . It is hardy to zone 5 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from June to August, and the seeds ripen from July to September. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees and Lepidoptera (Moths & Butterflies). It is noted for attracting wildlife. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soil. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought. The plant can tolerate maritime exposure.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Hedgerow, Cultivated Beds, In Walls, In South Wall, In East Wall, In West Wall.

Edible Uses

Leaves; Root.

Young leaves - raw or cooked as greens[2, 5, 52, 115]. Exceedingly good, either in salads or cooked as a vegetable[4]. This differs from our own experience, whilst the leaves can be added to salads they are rather bitter and rather less than desirable[8, 183, K].
Root - cooked[4]. Used in soups[4].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Nervine.

Red valerian is sometimes confused in herbals and folk tradition with the true valerian (Valeriana officinalis). Whilst true valerian has a very strong action on the nervous system, this species has no known medical properties[244, 268].
The plant is nervine[148]. This report possibly confuses this plant with the true valerian, Valeriana officinalis, which is a very effective nervine.

Other Uses

Miscellany.

The seeds were used in ancient embalming[89, 148].

Cultivation details

Grows well in ordinary moist, well-drained garden soil and on dry walls[1, 111, 200]. Prefers a sunny position[111], though it also succeeds in semi-shade[219]. Thrives on chalk[200], poor soils[188] and in sandy soils[187]. Established plants are drought tolerant[190].
This species is hardy to about -15°c[187, 200].
Plants are generally long-lived and grow especially well in maritime areas, where they are a common feature of hedgerows and walls[219, K].
A very ornamental plant[1], it attracts moths and butterflies[30]. The flowers have an unpleasant smell like perspiration[245].

Propagation

Seed - sow February to May in situ or as soon as it is ripe in situ and only just cover the seed. Germination is usually rapid.
Division in spring.
Cuttings, summer, in a cold frame.

Scent

Flowers: Fresh: The flowers have an unpleasant smell like perspiration.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

References for Centranthus rubra (a possible synonym).

[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Kentranthus ruber (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database

References for centranthus ruber (a possible synonym).

[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures

References for the family Valerianaceae.

To be included in the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[5] Mabey. R. Food for Free. Collins 1974 ISBN 0-00-219060-5
Edible wild plants found in Britain. Fairly comprehensive, very few pictures and rather optimistic on the desirability of some of the plants.

[8] Ceres. Free for All. Thorsons Publishers 1977 ISBN 0-7225-0445-4
Edible wild plants in Britain. Small booklet, nothing special.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[30] Carter D. Butterflies and Moths in Britain and Europe. Pan 1982 ISBN 0-330-26642-x
An excellent book on Lepidoptera, it also lists their favourite food plants.

[52] Larkcom. J. Salads all the Year Round. Hamlyn 1980
A good and comprehensive guide to temperate salad plants, with full organic details of cultivation.

[89] Polunin. O. and Huxley. A. Flowers of the Mediterranean. Hogarth Press 1987 ISBN 0-7012-0784-1
A very readable pocket flora that is well illustrated. Gives some information on plant uses.

[111] Sanders. T. W. Popular Hardy Perennials. Collingridge 1926
A fairly wide range of perennial plants that can be grown in Britain and how to grow them.

[115] Johnson. C. P. The Useful Plants of Great Britain.
Written about a hundred years ago, but still a very good guide to the useful plants of Britain.

[148] Niebuhr. A. D. Herbs of Greece. Herb Society of America. 1970
A pleasant little book about Greek herbs.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[187] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Perennials Volumes 1 and 2. Pan Books 1991 ISBN 0-330-30936-9
Photographs of over 3,000 species and cultivars of ornamental plants together with brief cultivation notes, details of habitat etc.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[190] Chatto. B. The Dry Garden. Dent 1982 ISBN 0460045512
A good list of drought resistant plants with details on how to grow them.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[219] Grey-Wilson. C. & Matthews. V. Gardening on Walls Collins 1983 ISBN 0-00-219220-0
A nice little book about plants for growing against walls and a small section on plants that can grow in walls.

[244] Phillips. R. & Foy. N. Herbs Pan Books Ltd. London. 1990 ISBN 0-330-30725-8
Deals with all types of herbs including medicinal, culinary, scented and dye plants. Excellent photographs with quite good information on each plant.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

[268] Stuart. M. (Editor) The Encyclopedia of Herbs and Herbalism Orbis Publishing. London. 1979 ISBN 0-85613-067-2
Excellent herbal with good concise information on over 400 herbs.

Readers Comments

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