Kearney and Peebles 1969, McDougall 1973

Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Herbaceous perennials, stems leafy to subscapose, plants strongly scented with short and tuber-like rootstocks. Leaves: Opposite, pinnate with 3 or more leaflets, (basal leaves rarely simple), leaflets broadly ovate to oblong-lanceolate, margins coarsely serrate or lacinate, thin and flaccid, with inconspicuous or spreading lateral veins, blades petioled. Flowers: Pink or whitish, funnelform to rotate, 1-2 mm long, the corolla limb nearly regular, the tube swollen on one side, more or less hairy, the lobes about equal, calyx of pappus-like bristles, at first involute, later spreading, stamens 3, borne in open, elongate panicles of loosely-flowered cymes. Fruits: Achene, strigose-puberulent, solitary. Ecology: Found in rich soils in coniferous forests, from 5,500-7,000 ft (1676-2134 m); flowering July-October. Distribution: Arizona and New Mexico to Central America. Notes: McDougall used for genus description only. Distribution data taken from USDA Plants and Kearney and Peebles. Ethnobotany: There is no use recorded for this species, but other species in this genus have uses. Synonyms: Valeriana gracilis, Valeriana tenella Editor: LCrumbacher 2012 Etymology: Valeriana is a medieval Latin name either referring to the personal name Valerius, or to the country of Valeria, a province of the Roman empire, or to the word valere, "to be healthy and strong" from its use as a folk medicine in the treatment of nervousness and hysteria, while the meaning of sobrafolia is unknown.