From Wikipedia:
VALERIAN (Valeriana officinalis, Valerianaceae) is a hardy perennial flowering plant, with heads of sweetly scented pink or white flowers. This "sweet" smell is quite overpowering when the flower is placed into a vase. The flowers are in bloom from June to September. Valerian was used as a perfume in the sixteenth century.
Native to Europe and parts of Asia, Valerian has been introduced into North America. It is consumed as food by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species including Grey Pug.
Other names used for this plant include garden valerian (to distinguish it from other Valeriana species), garden heliotrope (although not related to Heliotropium) and all-heal.
Valerian, in Pharmacology and Phytotherapic Medicine, is the name of a herb or dietary supplement prepared from roots of the plant, which, after maceration, trituration, dehydration processes, are conveniently packaged, usually into capsules, that may be utilized for certain effects including sedation and anxiolytic effect.
The amino acid Valine is named after this plant.
HISTORY
Valerian has been used as a medicinal herb since at least the time of ancient Greece and Rome. Hippocrates described its properties, and Galen later prescribed it as a remedy for insomnia.
ETYMOLOGY
The name Valerian comes from the Latin word valere, meaning "to be strong or healthy", generally thought to refer to its medicinal use, though many references suggest that it also refers to the strong odor.
An explanation for the theory regarding the etymological reference to the strong odor is that the herb was also known as "Phou" or "Fy" in antiquity . «Phou» or «fy» is describing a common expression of the peoples of the european continent when smelling a dried Valerian root. According to folk belief this medicine could turn everything painful into good. It was therefor called "wenderot" or similar in germanic language groups, meaning the root that could turn things bad to good. Domestic animals, pets, especially cats become ardent when they smell the herb. Sometimes they start to bite or suck one's fingers after one has taken tablets or prepared the root.
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