20 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



Smyrnium. L. 5. 2. 



S. aureum. L. Meadow Parsnip. Cow Parsnip. Alex- 

 anders. This plant has suffered repeated change of name. 

 It is about 2 feet high, smooth, branching ; umbel compound, 

 bearing orange-yellow flowers ; leaf-stalk divides into 3 parts, and 

 then into 3 leafets. Grows on alluvial and upland meadows 

 over the western part of the Slate, abundant on Connecticut 

 River and in the eastern part of the State. Latterly it has at- 

 tracted some attention for its medicinal properties. Dr. Partridge, 

 Stockbridge. 



Smyrnium is from the Greek for myrrh, as the juice smells 

 like this substance. Loudon. 



Uraspermum. Nutt. 6. 2. 



U. Claytoni. Nutt. Sweet Cicely. The sweet, spicy 

 flavor of the root, like anise seed, has made this plant an 

 object of search with the young. Stem about 2 feet high, 

 smooth, with ternate leaves ; flowers small and white, in June ; 

 root spindle-form, somewhat fleshy, often branching ; inhabits 

 borders of woods, and by fences of meadows. 



U. hirsutum. Big. Hairy Uraspermum. With the pre- 

 ceding often grows this plant, and much resembles it, but is 

 rough and hairy, and of a whitish cast, and its leaves are more 

 deeply cut, and somewhat hairy ; the root has none of the pleas- 

 ant sweetness of the preceding, but has a strong, rank taste. It 

 was rightly formed into a distinct species by Dr. Bigelow. 

 Found in the western part of State, as well as about Boston. 



Apium. L. 5. 2. 



•^. graveolens. L. Celery. The common vegetable of our 

 gardens. Introduced from Europe, and blanched by being nearly 

 covered with earth as it grows, by which process it becomes 

 juicy, sweet, crisp, and fine-flavored. The name ^pium is said 

 to be from the Celtic, water, from the wet places of the species. 

 Even this one is coarse, rough, and poisonous in its wild state. 



