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Valeriana italica Lam.

Caprifoliaceae · Albania, Bulgaria +9

English names not checked: Wikidata's common names were not read for this page.

Photographs not checked iNaturalist and GBIF media were skipped (not asked) when this page was built. Not asked, or not answered, is not "none": nothing here claims there is none. Why the site says it this way.
Add one to my plants
Sow seed
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
0.3°C
Record low -4.3 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
30°C
Aug at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
724mm
7 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
16–50DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Wet winters: the rain comes November to February, read as a winter growing season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

About the genus · Valeriana

Valeriana is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caprifoliaceae, members of which may be commonly known as valerians. It contains many species, including the garden valerian, Valeriana officinalis. Valeriana has centers of diversity in Eurasia and South America, and is represented by native species on all continents except Antarctica.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Valeriana", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads a winter growing season: 70% of the median year's rain (515 mm of 691 mm) falls in November to February, cooler than the year (wet-season mean 11.6 °C against a yearly mean of 17.5 °C). Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: May to August.

Rain

691 mm in the median year at the habitat, 515 mm of it November to February. Wettest month January at 148 mm, driest month August at 1 mm; 3 months under 5 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 495 mm to 1,148 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 724 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 691 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 16 to 50 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 11, the highest 90th-percentile month 51).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 0.3 °C, the absolute minimum -4.3 °C, 121 frost nights in 44 years, 2.8 a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 42.7 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 6.0 °C in February (across the grid cells of the range 0.5 °C to 9.8 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 29.8 °C in August (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 0.3 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 54 to 60% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected +61 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Valeriana italica through the yearWarmest month August, mean daily high 30 °C; coldest month February, mean nightly low 6.0 °C; 691 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.-10°0°10°20°30°40°50°frost42.7° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER-4.3° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200250mm rainDLI 16–50RH 54–60%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 193 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C13 / 8–1513 / 8–1615 / 11–1920 / 15–2423 / 19–2827 / 22–3129 / 25–3330 / 25–3328 / 22–3124 / 19–2819 / 14–2214 / 10–17
Night °C6 / 1–106 / 1–108 / 2–1111 / 6–1414 / 10–1718 / 14–2121 / 17–2321 / 18–2419 / 15–2216 / 11–1911 / 6–158 / 2–12
Rain mm148 / 94–231132 / 77–17780 / 53–11933 / 21–7015 / 6–402 / 1–162 / 0–91 / 0–156 / 2–5037 / 21–10796 / 64–182139 / 96–213
DLI18 / 14–2024 / 20–2532 / 28–3441 / 37–4247 / 43–4850 / 48–5149 / 47–5045 / 42–4638 / 33–3928 / 23–3020 / 15–2316 / 11–18
RH %60 / 58–6259 / 58–6158 / 56–6055 / 52–6054 / 50–6054 / 48–6155 / 48–6356 / 49–6457 / 52–6158 / 54–6057 / 54–6259 / 57–63
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 193 grid cells on land that hold in-range records (473 records in those cells; 1 more cell holds records but no land by the elevation layer, so those records sit at sea and the cell is left out), with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1149:4307 (32.525, 35.375). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -4.3 °C, 1st-percentile night 0.3 °C, 99th-percentile day 42.7 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 193 distinct grid cells holding 473 of the 474 in-range records (1 further cell with records at sea, by the elevation layer, left out); extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1149:4307 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 32.50_35.625, lapse-corrected +61 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 210 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.

This species has no GBIF key of its own. Its records are GBIF's under the key of the name Kew's World Checklist holds as this plant: 4094790 (Valeriana italica Lam., 837 records). No name was matched to GBIF; the keys are read from Kew's synonymy. How.

NativeAlbania, Bulgaria, Greece, Kriti, Turkey-in-Europe, Yugoslavia, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Lebanon-Syria, Palestine, Turkey · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker32.834, 35.319 · in the densest population, 322 records (54% of those in range)
Kew's description“perennial” · “temperate” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 595 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 473 of them in the land cells it reads, of 474 placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 93 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 1470 km away. 121 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
Other GBIF keysRecords also from GBIF's key 4094790 (Valeriana italica Lam.): Kew's file holds it as Valeriana italica Lam. (accepted); 837 records, from GBIF's download.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 595 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Not checked. iNaturalist and GBIF media were skipped (not asked) when this page was built. Not a statement that none exist.

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Styrax officinalis Styrax officinalis Drug snowbell Photo: CC BY, Roderick Cameron Rubus creticus Rosaceae Orchis anatolica Orchis anatolica Anatolian Orchid Photo: CC BY, F. Bemmerlein-LuxTrifolium purpureum Trifolium purpureum Purple clover Photo: CC0, author not statedCupressus sempervirens Cupressus sempervirens Italian cypress Photo: CC0, author not statedAllium trifoliatum Allium trifoliatum Pink Garlic Photo: CC BY-SA, Chaym Turak

Other Valeriana 45 in the reference

Valeriana alliariifolia Valeriana alliariifolia Caprifoliaceae Photo: CC BY, Maria Kohanovskaya Valeriana amarella Caprifoliaceae Valeriana angustifolia Valeriana angustifolia Caprifoliaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, 阿橋 HQValeriana apula Valeriana apula Caprifoliaceae Photo: CC BY, Flavien SaboureauValeriana arizonica Valeriana arizonica Arizona tobaccoroot Photo: CC0, author not stated Valeriana calcitrapae Caprifoliaceae Valeriana californica Valeriana californica California valerian Photo: CC0, author not stated Valeriana carinata Caprifoliaceae Valeriana celtica Valeriana celtica Celtic Spikenard Photo: CC BY, Lukas ZanglValeriana clematitis Valeriana clematitis Caprifoliaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, julianazuluaga-carrero Valeriana cornucopiae Caprifoliaceae Valeriana coronata Caprifoliaceae all 46 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Valeriana siifolia; Valeriana sisymbriifolia; Valeriana dioscoridis. (WCVP, RBG Kew)

IPNIPOWOWikidataWFO

The record

Family
Caprifoliaceae
Described by
Lam.
Native to
Albania, Bulgaria, Greece +8
Wild records
595 in range · 93 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
Kew's names (WCVP) kew.names answeredas of 2026-06-04Kew's entry Valeriana italica Lam. (plant_name_id 2464178), read from Kew's names file
GBIF species record gbif.species not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21this species has no GBIF key of its own; its records are read under GBIF's keys for the names Kew's file holds as this plant, never by a name matched; GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 837 records of GBIF's key 4094790, Valeriana italica Lam. (Kew's file holds it as Valeriana italica Lam. (accepted)): the GBIF download; 8 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (8 at a zoo; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 32.50_35.625, lapse-corrected +61 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22found by Kew's IPNI identifier 859882-1, POWO 859882-1
Wikipedia wikipedia nothing to reportasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild not asked
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media not askedGBIF's backbone holds no one accepted species of this name, and a name it holds only as another species' synonym is not taken for this one, so GBIF's records were not asked
Wikimedia Commons commons nothing to reportasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 14 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

Opening your plants…