B0Q8, MARSHES, WET PLACES— SUMMER 241 



other wet places, rooting at the base, with erect flowering stems 

 that are sometimes very short, but often reach a height of three 

 feet. The whole plant is smooth, with hollow stems; pinnate 

 leaves with from three to nine or more pairs of ovate, bluntly- 

 toothed leaflets ; and 

 almost sessile umbels of 

 small, white flowers 

 either opposite the 

 leaves or in the angles 

 of the upper branches. 

 These umbels are com- 

 pound, with about five 

 or six rays, usually 

 without primary bracts, 

 but with several, 

 narrow, secondary 

 ones. The petals have 

 their points turned in- 

 wards ; and the carpels 

 are oval, each with five 

 narrow ribs. This plant 

 is commonly seen grow- 

 ing in company with 

 the Water-cress and the 

 Brookhme, and blooms 

 in July and August. 



In ditches we occa- 

 sionally meet with the 

 Water Hemlock or 

 Cowbane [Cicuta virosa) 

 — a tall plant, from 

 three to four feet high, 

 bearing large, flat um- 

 bels of small, white 



flowers from June to August. Its stem is hollow, furrowed, and 

 branched ; and the leaves are large, twice pinnate or ternate, with 

 lanceolate, acute leaflets, generally over an inch in length, the 

 margins serrate or (sometimes) doubly serrate. Comparing this 

 plant with the Common Hemlock (p. 169), we should note that 

 the secondary bracts of the latter are three in number, almost 

 invariably turned to the outside ; and that its calyx teeth are 



THE WATER HEJILOCK. 



