332 



THE PAESLEY FAMILY. 



The great mass of the British species have hollow and furrowed 

 stems, rising from one to three feet high, branched and erect, though 

 a few semi-aquatic kinds are apt to sprawl. The leaves vary from 

 quasi-pinnate to doubly and triply pinnatifid, the petioles generally 



Fig. 178. 

 True Hemlock. 



dilated at the base into large and sheathing covers for the young 

 buds. (Fig. 174.) The flowers are borne in compound umbels, vary- 

 ing from one to twelve inches across, and either flat or hemispherical, 



