Valeriana jatamansi PAB 6846

Indian Valerian Valerianaceae

Indian valerian with a rather potent personality for such an unassuming little plant. Valeriana jatamansi forms a low rosette of hairy, heart-shaped leaves, with attractive bronze new growth, before sending up slender stems carrying clusters of pale pink flowers in late spring and early summer. Beneath the foliage lies the real prize: an aromatic rhizome long valued in Himalayan traditional medicine. PAB 6846 was collected by Paul Barney on Shillong Peak in Meghalaya, north-east India, at approximately 2,000m, giving this form an unusually well-documented provenance. The species ranges widely through the Himalayas, from Afghanistan and northern India through Nepal and Bhutan to southern China and Myanmar, occurring in cool montane forest, meadows and open slopes.

Ethnobotany: The rhizomes are an important medicinal resource in Ayurvedic and other Himalayan traditional medicine, particularly associated with treatments involving the nervous system and as an aromatic medicinal drug. Modern studies have confirmed a chemically complex essential oil in the rhizomes, including patchouli alcohol and maaliol. 

Growing conditions: Cool, humus-rich, well-drained soil in sun or partial shade. Its high-altitude provenance makes it particularly well suited to the British climate.

Flowering: May–July
Hardiness: H5, approximately -15 to -10°C
Height: 30–40cm
Spread: 30–45cm