252 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Order 14. IIOUSE-LEEKS — Crassulace^. An order of no 

 particular importance. 



35. LiVE-FOK-EVER, GARDEN Orpine — Sedum Tebphium. Perennial, Stem two feet 

 high, stout, very leafy. Leaves oval, thick and fleshy. Flowers dark purplish, in dense 

 terminal leafy clusters. 



This partly naturalized plant from Europe is a very troublesome 

 weed when it has once got a firm foothold in gardens or fields. 

 It is very difficult to eradicate, and quite injurious to the growth 

 of valuable crops. Unchecked, it spreads rapidly. Often it is 

 introduced into gardens for its showy flowers and oddity of appear- 

 ance ; but whoever does this has to pay pretty dear for his whistle, 

 for it is quite sure to cause much labor to keep it within bounds. 

 The herb is so tenacious of life, that even after beiug severed from 

 the root it will continue to grow and blossom for weeks, if kept in 

 a shady place. It should be eradicated, roots and all, before it 

 matures its seeds ; otherwise it will remain in the soil and soon be 

 as troublesome as ever. 



36. Ditch Stone-Crop — Penthorum sedoides. Perennial, Ste7n ten to eighteen inches 

 high, with a few short branches. Leaves two to three inches long, narrow. Flowers 

 greenish, placed on the upper side of several spreading branches. 



A homely native weed, common everywhere in ditches and moist 

 places. Unlike the Live-for-ever, this plant is not fleshy. 



Order 15. UMBELWORTS— Umbellifer^. A large and well 

 defined order, chiefly natives of the cooler portions of the globe, 

 very few species being found within the tropics. Many of the 

 Umbellifera3 are poisonous or have narcotic properties. Among 

 these we may mention the Gonium maculatam, presently to be 

 described, Cicuta maculala, and jElhusa cynapium. Among the 

 useful members of this order we might name the carrot, parsnip, 

 celery 3Lnd j)arsleij. " Some medicinal gums are furnished by this 

 order, such as Asafoetida, Galbanum and Ammoniac." — [Dar- 

 lington.) 



37. Common Carrot. Wild Carrot — Dnucus cnmta. Root spindle-shaped, biennial. 

 Stem two to three feet high, striate, branching. Leaves numerous, pale green, cut into 

 many smull leaflets. Fluwrrs white or cream color, with one dark purple, abortive flower 

 in the centre of each little umblo. 



The coiniiiDii garden carrot, Dancus carota, var. saliva of De 

 Gandolle, is tlie cultivated form of our wild carrot, sometimes 

 troublesome on clayey loam in {iclds and by the roadside, where it 

 has been allowed to become established; indicating a "careless, 



