Valerian

Description:

Is a hardy perennial flowering plant, with heads of sweetly scented pink or white flowers which bloom in the summer months. Valerian has been used as a medicinal herb since at least the time of ancient Greece and Rome. Use as a sedative, anticonvulsant, migraine treatment and pain reliever. Valerian is used for insomnia and other disorders as an alternative to benzodiazepine drugs, and as a sedative for nervous tension, hysteria, excitability, stress and intestinal colic or cramps

Habitat:

Native to Europe and parts of Asia, valerian has been introduced into North America.

Notes:

The amino acid valine is named after this plant.