Valeriana rubra L., 1753

🇬🇧 Red Valerian

🇫🇷 Centranthe rouge, Lilas d'Espagne, Valériane rouge

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Superasterids
Clade: Asterids
Clade: Campanulids
Order: Dipsacales
Family: Caprifoliaceae
Subfamily: Valerianoideae
Genus: Valeriana
Species: Valeriana rubra

Presence

Present.

Conservation status

Red List (Metropolitan France): LC Least Concern

Notes

Sometimes moved into the genus Centranthus. A recent phylogenetic study support keeping this taxon within the Valeriana genus (De Castro et al., 2025).

Hybridizes with:

V. angustifolia Mill., 1768 to produce V. × gillotii (Giraudias) ined., P (het. syn. Centranthus × intermedius Rapin, 1862);
V. lecoqii (Jord.) Christenh. & Byng, 2018 to produce V. × aurigerana (Giraudias) Christenh. & Byng, 2018, P (hom. syn. Centranthus × aurigeranus Giraudias, 1890).

Photographs

img/valeriana-rubra.webp — Valeriana rubra

img/valeriana-rubra-2.webp — Valeriana rubra

img/valeriana-rubra-3.webp — Valeriana rubra - Flower buds

img/valeriana-rubra-4.webp — Valeriana rubra - Leaves

Sources

De Castro, O., Menale, B., Piazza, C., Bacchetta, G., & Del Guacchio, E. (2025). Can we rescue Centranthus (Caprifoliaceae: Valerianoideae) from the Valeriana sea?. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 209(4), 345-358. https://doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/boaf019
Tison, J.M., & de Foucault, B. (2014). Flora Gallica : Flore de France (p. 616). Biotope.