Family: špajkovke (Valerianaceae)
Flowering time: April–August
Size: 15–40 cm
Habitat: forests, rocky areas and among rubble
The creeping stem of the tripartite valerian (Valeriana tripteris) is bare and at the base woody. It sends up upright sterile (non-flowering) and flowering shoots. The sterile shoots have leaves densely arranged in a rosette; the flowering shoots are leafy with three to eight pairs of opposite leaves. The basal leaves with heart-shaped bases are entire (not divided), the cauline leaves are usually three-lobed (the leaf blade is divided to the base into three lobes). The leaf margins of all leaves are serrated. Pale pink to white, five-petaled flowers form a compound inflorescence at the top of the flowering shoots. The tripartite valerian grows in shaded rocky places on moist soils.
Apart from Primorje, it occurs throughout Slovenia, and in Pomurje this species is rare.
