Hedrick, U.P. editor. 1919. Sturtevant's Notes on Edible Plants. Report of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station for the Year 1919 II. Albany, J.B Lyon Company, State Printers. [References Available]
African valerian is a recent introduction into gardens and furnishes in its leaves
a salad of excellent quality. The plant is native to the Mediterranean region
in grain fields and in waste places. C. Bauhin, 1596, speaks of it as if
of recent introduction to botanical gardens in his time; and Clusius, 1601,
J. Bauhin, 1651, and Ray, 1686, all describe it. This valerian is not spoken
of as under cultivation in Miller's Dictionary, 1807, nor does Don
in his Gardener's Dictionary, 1834, speak of any use, although he
is usually very ready with such information. In 1841, the Bon Jardinier,
in France, refers to it as being a good salad plant. As neither Noisette,
1830, nor Petit, 1826, nor Pirolle, 1824, mentions it, we may assume that
it had not entered the vegetable garden at these dates. In 1863, Burr describes
African valerian among American garden vegetables, as does Vilmorin in France
in 1883, and it is described in England in 1885. No varieties are described,
although a purple and a white-flowered form are mentioned by Bauhin as occurring
in the wild plant. The one sort now described has pink- or rose-colored
flowers.
