16 FLORA HOM(OPATHICA. 
cicutarum. Lobel, Petroselinum canum; hence the name Dog 
Parsley. The name is derived from As$o, to burn, on account of 
its acrid qualities; another derivation is Aséscz, beggarly. 
Description. — Annual, flowers July, August, and Sep- 
tember. Root tapering, branched, and whitish. Stem from 
one to two feet high, upright branched, somewhat zig-zag, 
jointed, round, smooth, striated, sometimes purplish, but not 
spotted. eaves bi-pinnated, smooth, dark lurid green; seg- 
ments egg-spear-shaped, variously cut, lobed, and more or less 
decurrent ; lower leaves sometimes tri-pinnate. Umbels terminal 
on long stalks, spreading and flattish ; umbellules small, distant. 
General involucrum wanting. Partial involucrum of three long 
strap-shaped, unilateral, drooping leaves, by which it is” 
readily distinguished. Flowers white. Petals somewhat 
radiating, inversely heart-shaped, with the summits bent in. 
Anthers purplish. Fruit egg-shaped, striated pale brown. 
Whole plant smooth, except the flower-stalks, which are angular, 
and the angles are furnished with a minute transparent, papillose 
membrane. 
GrocrapuicaL Distrisution.—The British Islands, France, 
Germany, Italy, Russia, and other parts of Europe. One species, 
Alithusa meum (Spignel), grows wild in the mountains of Switzer- 
land, Germany, Austria, Carniola, Italy, and Spain; and also 
in the high pastures of Westmoreland, Cumberland, Lancashire, 
and Merionethshire. 
Locatitizs.—A common weed in gardens and cultivated 
fields. 
It is distinguished from garden parsley by the smell of the 
leaves, which is peculiar and disagreeable. The leaves them- 
selves are finer, more acute, and decurrent, and of a darker 
green than the common parsley. The flower-stem is striated and 
grooved ; and the plant is easily known by the beard, or three long 
pendulous leaves under the flower. Flowers are white, those of the 
common parsley pale yellow, Cows, horses, sheep, goats, and 
swine are said to eat it, but it is reported to be poisonous to geese. 
