RED VALERIAN

Valeriana rubra is a multi-stemmed perennial herbaceous plant up to 80 cm tall with red, pink or white flowers. The leaves are generally 5–10 cm long, the stem leaves being sessile and branch leaves sometimes having a petiole up to 5 cm long. The leaves grow in opposite pairs and are oval or lanceolate in shape.

The inflorescences occur at the tips of the branches, in multiparous cymes with a hundred or more flowers. Each plant has either red, pink or white flowers. Valeriana rubra 'Albus' (about 10% of individuals) has white blooms. The cultivar 'coccineus' is especially long-blooming. The blooms have a strong and somewhat rank scent. They are pollinated by both bees and butterflies and the plant is noted for attracting insects. 

Flowering takes place in early summer and, in cool summer areas, continues sporadically throughout the summer and into fall. Red Valerian is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including angle shades. Fruits have feathery projections similar in appearance to the pappus of dandelion seeds that allow wind dispersal, and can self-seed freely and become invasive if not properly controlled.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme

KNAUTIA

Knautia is a genus in the family Caprifoliaceae. The common names of these flowers are a variant of "widow flower." Others are given the name "Scabious," although this word belongs to a related genus (Scabiosa). The name Knautia comes from the 17th-century German botanists, Drs. Christoph and Christian Knaut.

It is a perennial plant that grows between 25 and 100 cm. It prefers grassy places and dry soils, avoiding heavy soils, and flowers between July and September. The flowered head is flatter than similar species devils bit scabious and small scabious. There are 4 stamens in each flower, and 1 notched long stigma.

The fruit is nut like, cylindrical and hairy, 5–6 mm in size. It has a tap root. The stem has long stiff hairs angled downwards. There are no stipules. The leaves form a basal rosette, are paired on the stem, the lowest typically 300 mm long, spear shaped, whereas the upper are smaller.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme