the.com/valerian
the herb that knocks out humans and turns cats into euphoric, drooling lunatics.
means A flowering plant whose root is dried and used as a mild sedative and sleep aid, and which also famously sends cats into a state of blissful intoxication.
from From the Latin 'valere,' meaning 'to be strong' or 'to be healthy' — the same root that gives us 'valor' and 'valid.' The plant likely earned the name for its reputed medicinal power, though some have linked it instead to the Roman name Valerianus. The herb has been used as a calming remedy since antiquity, with Greek physicians like Hippocrates and Galen prescribing it; in those older texts it sometimes went by the name 'phu,' an honest reaction to the root's notoriously sweaty-sock smell.
- cat magnet
- Affects felines like catnip, sometimes stronger
- funky smell
- Dried root reeks of old sweaty socks
- wartime sedative
- Calmed shell-shocked soldiers in both World Wars
- rat connection
- May have lured the Pied Piper's rodents
- slow burn
- Takes weeks of use before sleep benefits kick in
valerian root supplement — herbal remedy used for sleep, standardized extract sold in health stores worldwide since the 1970s
valerian gas planet — fictional world from luc besson's 2017 film 'valerian and the city of a thousand planets'