Valerian (herb) Valerian (herb) Valerian ("Valeriana officinalis", Caprifoliaceae) is a perennial flowering plant native to Europe and Asia. In the summer when the mature plant may have a height of , it bears sweetly scented pink or white flowers that attract many fly species, especially hoverflies of the genus "Eristalis". It is consumed as food by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species, including the grey pug. Crude extract of valerian root may have sedative and anxiolytic effects, and is commonly sold in dietary supplement capsules to promote sleep. Valerian has been used as a medicinal herb since at least
Valerian and Porcian laws Tarquin kings. Nonetheless, the Valerian law was not kept on the books throughout the five hundred years of the Roman republic. Indeed, Titus Livius (Livy) states that the Valerian law was enacted again, for the third time, in 299 BC. Andrew Lintott surmises that the effect of this third Valerian law was to regularize the "provocatio": appeals to the people had been a fact of life with which magistrates had to deal prior to the law, but now magistrates were ordered to yield to the decisions of the people in capital cases. Livy notes that in all three cases the