162 CARROT FAMILY 



said to be compound. The leaves are usually much di- 

 vided, but exceptions are shown in a few species. 



The aromatic flavor characteristic of the family is 

 highly developed in the seeds of fennel, anise, coriander, 

 dill, and caraway, and to a less degree in the leaves of 

 parsley, celery, carrots, and parsnips. 



Pennywort. Marsh Pennywort (Genera Hydrocotyle 



and Centella) 



Hydrocotyle umhellata, called pennywort from the shape 

 of its small roundish leaves, is common in low grounds 

 and near lakes and streams, where the creeping stems 

 spread extensively, carpeting the ground with many leaves, 

 and bearing small umbels of tiny flowers. In this penny- 

 wort, which often grows in shallow water, the leaf -stalk 

 is attached near the center of the leaf. In the slightly 

 larger Centella repanda the stalk is at the base of the 

 blade, and the tiny flowers are often tinged with pink. 



Button Snakeroot (Genus Eryngium) 



Button snakeroots differ from our other plants of this 

 family in crowding their tiny blue or white flowers in 

 compact globular or cylindrical heads. They are common 

 in many places. 



E. aromaticum, which blooms nearly all the year, is 

 found in dry soil, where the spreading or prostrate stems, 

 one to two feet long, bear many small bluish or lead- 

 colored heads. The numerous stiff leaves, seldom more 

 than an inch in length and usually less, are three-cleft, 

 and the spreading divisions are spine-tipped. 



The slender, prostrate E. Baldwinii, with thread-like 

 stems and distant leaves, grows in damp soil. The bluish 

 flowering-heads, which begin to bloom in early spring, 

 are barely one-fourth of an inch long. 



The stout, erect, yucca-leaved E. synchaetum, two to 

 four feet tall, blooms in pinelands during summer. The 



