Translations:Benutzer:Arian/Klett-Mini-Test/1560/en

The valerian seedling first forms a taproot, which soon dies back. The stem remains initially compressed, and from it develops a loose leaf rosette. In the soil, at the transition to the root, it divides into several short, cylindrical *rhizomes* — a kind of vegetative fruit formation in the root zone — from which the roots reach outward and downward in strands, arching out in curves. They enclose spherically an inner space open at the bottom, divide themselves into fine rootlets, and so present the type of the "earthly root" (Figure 33). The rhizomes, in continuation of the air-filled stem, show cavities. At the transition to the slightly thickened root strands — which likewise contain aromatic substances — buds form toward autumn that grow out into new shoots. To this form of vegetative propagation is added the formation of runner shoots, which take root anew at their nodes.