Valeriana alternifolia Bunge; V. alternifolia f. angustifolia (Komarov) Kitagawa; V. alternifolia var. angustifolia (Komarov) S. H. Li; V. alternifolia f. verticillata (Komarov) S. X. Li; V. chinensis Kreyer ex Komarov; V. coreana Briquet; V. coreana subsp. leiocarpa (Kitagawa) Voroschilov; V. dubia Bunge; V. fauriei Briquet; V. fauriei var. leiocarpa (Kitagawa) Kitagawa; V. leiocarpa Kitagawa; V. nipponica Nakai ex Kitagawa; V. officinalis var. alternifolia (Bunge) Ledebour; V. officinalis var. latifolia Briquet; V. pseudofficinalis C. Y. Cheng & H. B. Chen; V. stubendorfii Kreyer ex Komarov; V. stubendorfii f. angustifolia Komarov; V. stubendorfii f. verticillata Komarov; V. subbipinnatifolia A. I. Baranov; V. tianschanica Kreyer ex Handel-Mazzetti.

Plants up to 150 cm tall, infrequently stoloniferous. Rhizomes reduced; roots fascicled, clavate, 1.5-2.5 mm in diam. Stems hirsute or hispidulous, particularly at nodes, rarely glabrous. Basal and lowermost cauline leaves usually wilted at anthesis; cauline leaves petiolate to sessile; petiole 0-8 cm; blade ovate to broadly ovate, 5-15 × 3-8 cm, pinnatisect; segments 7-15, lanceolate or linear, glabrous or ± hispidulous, base decurrent, margin entire or coarsely serrate; terminal and lateral segments similar in shape and size. Inflorescence corymbiform, large and compact even in fruit, or with 2 distinct, secondary lateral inflorescences; bracts leaflike below, small and linear-lanceolate otherwise; bracteoles elliptic-oblong, oblanceolate, or linear-lanceolate, margin scarious-ciliate, apex awned. Corolla purplish red, pink, or white, funnelform, 4-6 mm; lobes elliptic. Stamens and style strongly exserted. Achenes narrowly ovoid, 4-5 mm, both sides glabrous or pubescent. Fl. May-Jul, fr. Jun-Oct. 2n = 14, 28, 42, 56.

Valeriana officinalis is a very variable species for which several infraspecific taxa have been described.

Grassy slopes, forests, by streams; below 2500 m, but up to 4000 m in Qinghai, Sichuan, and Xizang. Anhui, Chongqing, Gansu, Guizhou (Fanjing Shan, Huangping, Kaili), Hebei, Henan, W Hubei, W Hunan (Sangzhi, Xinning), Jiangxi (Lu Shan), N and SE Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong (Changqing, Kunyu Shan, Taishan), Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang (Jomda, Qamdo, Riwoqê), Zhejiang (Tianmu Shan) [Japan, Russia; Europe].