Valeriana woodsiana (synonym Valerianella radiata), common name beaked cornsalad, is a plant native to the United States.[2] It is an annual self pollinating flowering plant and besides being edible there are no known uses.[3]Valerianella radiata flowers from April- May.[4]
Valeriana woodsiana typically grows to a height of 0.6m (2ft).[3] Flowers are perfect.[4] It has 5 white flower petals that are arranged bilaterally symmetrical with fused sepals.[4] The leaves are simple, entire, and toothed[4] with opposite arrangement of two leaves per node on stem.[5] It has 3 stamens,[5] one pistil with three carpels, an inferior ovary with 3 locules and one ovule per locule, slightly 3-lobed stigmas and produces dry fruit 2 - 2.5mm long.[4]Valerianella radiata has a corolla length of less than 2mm.[6] The fruit is usually yellowish and glabrous to finely pubescent and the fertile cells are slightly narrower than sterile cells.[7] A groove forms between the narrow and fertile sides of the fruit.[7] It is a self-fertile plant due to having both male and female organs.[3] Stems are hollow and ascend to erect, dichotomously branching (an important diagnostic character), angled, and glabrous to sparse pubescence on stem wing margins.[4] Basal leaves are sessile, short-petiolate, spatulate, obovate with bases fused around the stem, glabrous along margins and midvein of the undersurface.[4] Inflorescences are clusters that are small, dense, and usually paired on branch tips that have lanceolate bracts to narrowly elliptic.[4]
Distribution and habitat
Valeriana woodsiana is native to the deciduous forest regions of the eastern United States.[8] This species is commonly found in creek beds, roadsides, ditches, clearings, hilltops, and pasture lands.[8]Valeriana woodsiana can be found in areas ranging from moderate shade to full sunlight exposure.[6] It may be present in Japan as an introduced plant. [9]
Conservation status
It is listed as a special concern and believed extinct in Connecticut,[10] and listed as endangered in New Jersey. It is listed as a weed in other parts of the United States.[2]
Taxonomy
Valeriana woodsiana is an annual, meaning that it grows from a seed, produces seeds, and dies all within a growing season, leaving dormant seeds.[11]Valeriana woodsiana has funnelform flowers which commonly leads to inbreeding.[8] This species has two varieties: var. radiata and var. fernaldii.[8] The species is known by various synonyms including Valerianella radiata, which was originally described by Linnaeus [8] but was later renamed by Pierre Dufresne.[12]
Young raw leaves and the roots of the plant are edible.[3] Roots of plant are an unlikely food source due to their minuscule size.[3]
Weed control
Valeriana woodsiana is a common weed found in some gardens of the southeastern United States due to suitability in many types of soils and pH levels.[3] Applications of 0.11 kg glyphosate/ha was used to controlled V. woodsiana in non-crop situations[13].
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