# Valerian (Valeriana officinalis)

**Phu* (Dioscorides); Latin *valeriana**

**Known today as.** *Valeriana officinalis*; the root is used.

Kind: Plant

## What does modern science say?

Widely taken for sleep and nervous unrest; controlled trials give mixed and modest results. Spikenard, in Canale, is a Himalayan relative (see [Spikenard](https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/spikenard)). Valerenic acid and its relatives act on the GABA receptors, and two meta-analyses have found it improves the sense of having slept well without much changing the measures of sleep itself; it is approved in Europe as a traditional remedy for mild nervous tension and sleep. It is not a sedative in the way of the drugs, and it does not impair driving.

## Pharmacognosy and toxicology

- **valerenic acid**: 
- **isovaleric acid**: the smell
- **valepotriates**: unstable; absent from most extracts

**Mechanism.** Valerenic acid modulates the GABA-A receptor at a site distinct from the benzodiazepines.

**Dose.** No serious toxicity recorded; drowsiness.

**Standing.** Approved in Europe as a traditional remedy for mild nervous tension and sleep.

## What lore surrounds it?

Cats are drawn to the root as to catmint; legend makes it the lure the Pied Piper carried.

In Sweden the root was sewn into the bridegroom’s clothes to keep off the envy of the elves. During the air raids of both World Wars valerian was given in Britain for the strain of the bombing, and “shell shock” was treated with it in 1914. The smell of the dried root, like old socks, is from isovaleric acid, and the cat that rolls in it is answering the same compound that is in catmint.

## What did the older authorities say?

**Dioscorides.** Describes the root of *phu*, warming and diuretic.

**Its name.** Medieval Latin *valeriana*, often derived from *valere*, to be strong or well.

**Hippocrates and Galen.** Hippocrates names *phu* among the remedies, and Galen prescribes it for sleeplessness: the oldest medical use of the root is the one it still has.

**Gerard and Culpeper.** Gerard says the country people of the north so esteem it that no broth or pottage is worth anything without it; Culpeper gives it for coughs, the plague, and to drive away the phantoms of the night.

## Sources

- Dioscorides, *De materia medica*.
- Gerard, J. (1597). *The Herball*.
- Bent, S., et al. (2006). “Valerian for sleep: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” *American Journal of Medicine* 119.
- Bent, S., et al. (2006). *American Journal of Medicine* 119.

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*Valerian.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-10-01. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/valerian

Historical description, not medical advice.