390 HERACLEUM. C^^*" "■ °^^^^ "• 



at the back, with three very slender eqiii-dislant ri(I(/es at the back, the 

 two lateral ones remote, close (o the dilated margin. Channels shallow, 

 each with a single slender riltcc the length of the channel. Albumen 

 thin, much pressed, flat in front, somewhat convex at the back. 



Habitat. — lload sides, borders of fields and pastures ; not unfrequent. 

 In gravelly or sandy soil in Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincoln- 

 shire, Essex, and the South-cast of England; Crosby, near Liverpool 

 in chalky pastures; not unfrequent in Ireland. 



Biennial ; flowering in July. 



The Parsnip is a well known garden plant, cultivated for its roots, 

 which are large, white, and fleshy, abounding in farinaceous matter, 

 with mucilage and sugar. They are wholesome and nutritious, but 

 much too sweet to be agreeable to many persons. One variety, the 

 Cocjiiaine, has very large roots, and in some parts of the country is 

 much cultivated for cattle, especially in Jersey and Guernsey, and is 

 said to be one cause of the superiority of the milk, both in richness 

 and flavour; and in the North of Ireland the roots are prepared and 

 used with hops to brew a kind of beer in the place of mall. An ex- 

 cellent and wholesome wine is made from the parsnip root, approaching 

 in flavour to the malmsey of Madeira and the Canaries ; it is made 

 with but little trouble or expence. The following are the directions 

 given : — To every four of parsnip roots, cleared and quartered, put one 

 gallon of water; boil them till they are quite tender; drain them 

 through a sieve, but do not bruise them, as no remedy could afterwards 

 clear the liquid ; pour the liquor into a tub, and to each gallon add 

 three pounds of loaf sugar, and half an ounce of crude tartar ; when 

 cooled to the temperature of 75 degrees, put in a little yeast; let it 

 stand four days in a warm room, then tun it. The mixture should, 

 if possible, be fermented in a temperature of 60 degrees. September 

 and March are the proper months for making the wine. When the 

 fermentation has subsided, bung ddwn the cask and let the wine stand 

 at least twelve months before bottling. The boiled roots, especially of 

 the wild plants, are esteemed for their diuretic and mucilaginous 

 properties in calcarious afi'ections of the bladder. 



GENUS LXXIII. HERA'CLEUM.— Linn. Coiv Parsnip. 



Gen. Char. Calyx margin of five teeth. Petals obovate, cmarginate, 

 with an inflexed point, the outer ones often radiant, bifid. Fruit 

 flattened at the back with a broad plane margin. Carpels with 

 very slender ridges, the three dorsal ones equi-dislant, the two 

 lateral ones remote, contiguous to the dilated margin. Channels 



