iETHUSA. 



no channels visible between them, the dorsal ones the narrowest. Vittaj 

 of the commissure 2, blood red, curved, more distant at the base than 

 at the apex. — The leaves are poisonous, producing nausea, vomiting, 

 headach, giddiness, drowsiness, spasmodic pain, numbness, &c. The 

 leaves are dark in colour and nauseous in smell, which ought to prevent 

 its being mistaken for common parsley. 



FCENICULUM. 



Calyx a tumid obsolete rim. Petals roundish, entire, invo- 

 lute, with a squarish blunt lobe. Fruit nearly taper. Half- 

 fruits with 5 prominent bluntly keeled ridges, of which the la- 

 teral are on the edge, and rather the broadest. Vittae single in 

 the channels, 2 on the commissure. — Biennials or perennials. 

 Leaves pinnated, decompound, with setaceous segments. In- 

 volucre none. Flowers yellow. 



88. F. vulgare Gcertn.carp. i. 105. DC.prodr.lv. 142. Nees 

 and Eberm. pi. med. t. 277. handb. iii. 34. Smith Eng.fi. ii. 85. 

 — Meum Fceniculum Spreng. prodr. 32. Anethum Fceniculum 

 Linn. sp. 377. — Common on sandy and chalky ground all over 

 Europe. (Common Fennel.) 



Root tap-shaped. Herb smooth, of a deep glaucous green. Stem 3 or 

 4 feet high, erect, copiously branched, solid, round, striated, smooth, 

 leafy. Leaves triply pinnate ; leaflets thread-like, acute, long, more or 

 less drooping ; footstalks with a broad, firm, sheathing base. Umbels ter- 

 minal, very broad, flat, of very numerous, smooth, angular, rather stout 

 rays ; the partial rays much more slender, short, very unequal. Bracts 

 entirely wanting. Calyx none. Petals obovate, with a broad, obtuse, 

 inflexed point, altogether of a golden yellow, as well as the stamens. 

 Styles very short, with a large, ovate pale yellow base. Fruit ovate, 

 not quite 2 lines long, pale bright brown, smooth ; ridges sharp, with 

 but little space between each, the lateral ones rather the broadest; ter- 

 minated by a permanent conical disk. — Oil of wild fennel, is obtained 

 from the fruit. 



89. F. dulce C. Bauh. pin. 147. DC. prodr. iv. 142. Pe- 

 reira in med. gaz. xix. 685. — Italy, Portugal, &c. (Sweet 

 fennel.) 



This is extremely like the last; only it is a very much smaller plant, and 

 the umbels consist, as De Candolle has truly remarked, of only 6-8 

 rays, not of 13-20, as in common fennel. There is also a considerable 

 difference in the fruit as will appear by comparing the following de- 

 scription with that given under the last species. Fruit narrow, oblong, 

 3 lines long, pale dull brown, smooth ; ridges sharpish, with a space 

 between each for a convex line indicating the vittas, the lateral ones 

 rather the broadest; not a trace of calyx. Italian writers usually 

 consider it a cultivated variety of common fennel. — Oil of sweet fen- 

 ■nel is obtained from the fruit; its nature is similar to that from other 

 apiaceae. 



41 



