WOODS AND THICKETS /^' SVMMJEti 13D 



globular, berry-like drupe, containing a stone with one or two 

 seeds. 



In very dense woods, where the light is so much reduced that but 

 few flowers -wdll grow, we may generally find the Wood Sanicle 

 {Sanicula europcea), a smooth umbelliferous plant with a short, hard 

 rootstock, and a simple stem from one to two feet high. The leaves, 

 which are all radical, are on long stalks, and are palmately divided 

 into three or five shining lobes that are themselves cut and sharply 

 toothed. The flowers are sessile, in little rounded heads ; the 



THE Alexanders. 



whole inflorescence forming an irregular umbel or a loose panicle. 

 They are very minute, of a pinkish white colour ; and the outer 

 ones of each head usually have no pistil. They bloom during June 

 and July, and are followed later by little prickly fruits about a 

 sixth of an inch long. 



In damp woods we commonly meet with the tall, stout, branching 

 Angelica {Angelica sylveslris) of the same order {Umbelliferce), with 

 a thick, fmTowed stem, two to four feet high, downy above, and 

 usually more or less shaded with purple. Its lower leaves are 

 very large, A;vith stalked, ovate leaflets, from one to two inches long, 

 often three-lobed, and always sharply toothed. The upper leaves 

 are much smaller, with fewer leaflets, and often consist only of a 

 broad sheath with a few small leaflets at its summit. The flowers 



