242 



FIELD AND WOODLAND PLANTS 



very indistinct, while in the present species they are prominent 

 above the ovary. 



Next follow three species of Water Dropwort (genus (Enanihe) 

 — smooth plants, with much-divided leaves and compound umbels 



of white flowers, with 

 secondary, and sometimes 

 also primary, narrow 

 I) r a c t s. In all three 

 species the central flowers 

 of each secondary umbel 

 are perfect and shortly 

 stalked, while the outer 

 ones are on longer stalks, 

 and usually staminate. 

 The petals are notched, 

 with points turned in- 

 wards ; and the fruits 

 have two rather long 

 styles, are crowned by 

 the five minute teeth of 

 the calyx, and their 

 carpels have each five 

 blunt ribs. The three 

 species referred to are : — 

 1. The Common Water 

 Dropwort {(E. fistnlosa). 

 — An erect plant, from 

 two to three feet high, 

 with a fleshy, fibrous 

 root ; creeping runners ; 

 and a thick, hollow, 

 slightly-branched stem. 

 Its radical leaves are 

 bipinnate, with segments 

 cut into three or five narrow lobes ; and the stem leaves have long, 

 hollow stalks, with a few narrow segments at the top. The umbels 

 have from three to five rays, usually with no primary bracts, and 

 a few, narrow secondary ones. 



2. The Hemlock Water Dropwort {CE. crocata) is a larger plant, 

 from two to five feet high, with a tuberous root and a thick, 

 branched stem. Its leaves are bipinnate, with stalked, shining 



The Common water Dropwort. 



