Valeriana rupestris Pallas, Reise Russ. Reich. 3: 266. 1776.

Herbs, perennial, 20-100 cm tall. Taproot clavate, to ca. 1.5 cm in diam.; caudex slender, simple or several branched. Stems woody at base, covered with persistent old leaf remnants, new growth herbaceous, scaberulose. Basal leaves usually wilted at anthesis, subsessile or petiolate; petiole 2-4 cm; blade obovate-oblong, oblong, ovate, or obovate, 2-7 × 1-2.5 cm, pinnatilobate, pinnatifid to pinnatisect, or undivided, margin crenulate; segments linear, oblong-lanceolate, or lanceolate; terminal segment usually crenulate, lobed or segmented. Cauline leaves sessile to shortly petiolate; blade oblong or elliptic, 3-7 cm, pinnatifid to pinnatisect; lateral segments usually in 3-6 pairs, linear or linear-lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, sparsely crenulate or entire; terminal segment 3-partite, with 3 linear secondary segments. Inflorescence corymbiform, 2.5-20 cm in diam.; lateral branches in 3-7 pairs; lowermost bracts pinnatisect, with 3-5 pairs of linear segments; upper bracts smaller, linear, or with 1 or 2 pairs of filiform-linear segments. Calyx margin truncate, sinuous or shallowly 5-lobed; lobes ovate, 0.1-0.2 mm. Corolla yellow, funnelform-campanulate, 2.5-4 mm; tube 1.8-2 mm, 1.5-2 mm in diam. distally; limb 3-5.5 mm wide; lobes oblong, ovate-elliptic, ovate-oblong, ovate, or ovate-orbicular, 1.2-2 × 1-1.5 mm. Stamens 4; longer filaments 3-4 mm, shorter filaments 2.6-3.5 mm; anthers 0.7-0.8 mm. Ovary columnar, 0.5-1.3 mm, hispidulous, or glabrescent on one or both surfaces; style 2.2-3.3 mm; stigma peltate. Achenes obovoid-columnar, 2.4-2.6 × 1.5-1.8 mm, hispidulous to glabrescent; pedicel 0.5-1 mm; bracteoles oblong, ovate, or obovate, 3.5-5.1 × 3.5-3.6 mm, 3-veined, apex sometimes shallowly 3-lobed. Fl. Jul-Sep, fr. Aug-late Oct. 2n = 22.

Stony slopes, meadows, margins of Betula or Populus forests; 200-2500 m. Chongqing (Chengkou, Wanyuan), E Gansu (E of Maxian Shan), Hebei (Weichang, Xiaowutai Shan, Zhangbei), E Heilongjiang, Henan (Huixian), E Jilin (Chunhua, Helong, Jilin), Liaoning (Jianping, Qianshan), NE Nei Mongol, Ningxia (Guyuan), Shaanxi (Wuqi, Zhidan), Shanxi (Luya Shan) [Mongolia, Russia (Far East, Siberia)].