?64 CARUM, (fL*a« V. ORBFR II 



(jIKNUS LVr. CARTIM.— Linn. Caraway. 



Gkn. Chak. ('ah/x margin ohsolele. Petals obovate, notched and 



curved witli an inflexcd point. Fruit oblong, laterally com- 



})rcssed. Carpels with five filiform ridyes, the lateral ones 



i'onninjj^ the margin. Channels with single vittcB. Albumen 



roundish, convex, plain in front. General and partial involucre 



various. — Name derived, according to Pliny, from that of the 



country Caria. 



1. C. Ca^'rui, Linn. (Fig. 428.) common Caraway. Leaves doubly 



pinnate; leaflets cut into linear segments, the lower ones decussate ; 



stem angular, branched ; general in\olucre scarcely any ; partial none. 



English Botany, t. 1503. — English Flora, vol. ii. p, «6. — Hooker, 



British Flora, vol i. p. 129. — Lindley, Synopsis, p 122. 



Root tapering. Stem from one to two feet high, erect, angular, 

 smooth, furrowed, branched, and leafy. Leaves doubly pinnated, 

 footstalk much dilated at the base into a thin ribbed membranous 

 sheath, enveloping the stem, the lower ones alternate, the upper ones 

 have each opposite the insertion of the footstalk a small se.ssile leaf ef 

 numerous linear segments. Leaflets in pairs, cut into narrow linear, 

 simple or cleft segments; the lower leaflets cross each other (decussate) 

 in their insertion, the upper ones opposite. Umbels numerous, terminal 

 and lateral. General of numerous angular somewhat unequal raj/s, 

 the partial dense, unequal. General involucre wanting, or of few 

 narrow segments, {.he partial always wanting. Flowers white. Calyx 

 an obsolete margin. Petals five, sometimes six, obovate, notched at 

 the extremity with a slender obtuse inflexcd point. Stamens on 

 slender filaments, longer than the petals. Anthers small, roundish. 

 Styles short. Stigmas small, globose. Fruit oblong, compressed on 

 the sides. Carpels with five filiform ridges, three on the back, and 

 two forming the margin. Channels smooth, each with a single simple 

 vitta. Albumen roundish at the back, somewhat flattened in front. 



Habitat. — Meadows and pastures, in damn situations in various 

 parts of England and Scotland. 

 Biennial; flowering in June. 



The Caraway is a naturalised plant, probably at first escaped from 

 gardens ; now established in various parts of the country. Its seeds are 

 well known as possessed of an agreeable aromatic quality, residing in 

 the essential oil secreted in the vitloe ; they are much used in domestic 

 cookery, confectionery, and as a warm aromatic are admitted into our 

 Pharmacopajiaf. 



2. C. verdcilla'tum, Koch. (Fi^-. -129.) whorled Caraway. Leaflets 

 in short caj'illary whorled segments. 



