8o 



BRITISH FLOWERING PLANTS 



obtuse, and obliquely lobate at the base; the 

 terminal leaflet is trilobate. The leaves on the 

 middle of the stem are bipinnate, and the leaflets 

 more deeply lobate and indented. The upper 

 leaves are bipinnate, narrower, and much divided, 

 the divisions being linear. The umbels are ter- 

 minal, and are usually 6 in number, and set with 

 many white diverging flowers. The Coriander is 

 much cultivated for its aromatic seed, which is 

 frequently used in prescriptions, in combination 

 with rhubarb and senna. 



Among the wholesome plants of this Order, 

 which are wild or naturalised in England, and 

 most of which are cultivated, we may notice Celery 

 {Apium graveokns), Parsley (Petroselinum sativum), 

 Caraway {Carum carvi), Pig-nuts (Butiium flexu- 

 osum and butbocastanum), Fennel (Fceniculum 

 vulgare), Samphire (Crithium maritimum), Parsnip 

 (yPastinaca sativa), Carrot (Daucus carota), and 

 Chervil (Charophyllum sativum). 



On the Continent they do not bank up Celery, 

 as is done in Britain, but they tie a knot in the 

 young tap-root, which then swells up into a ball as 



large as a small turnip. I have seen these in 

 Covent Garden Market, labelled " Celerine from 

 the South of France." 



The Pig-nuts or Earth-nuts have tuberous roots 

 (white within, with a black outer skin) instead of 

 fibrous ones. They are found in dry pastures, and 

 might be cultivated to ascertain if they could not 

 be improved into useful vegetables. 



Samphire is a seaside plant, best remembered 

 by the celebrated passage in King Lear, relating 

 to Shakespeare's Cliff at Dover, which is now 

 falling into the sea. 



Among poisonous Umbelliferce we may mention 

 the Cowbane (Cicuta virosa), the Water-Dropworts 

 (genus CEnanthe), and the Hemlock (Conium 

 maculatum). The last is a handsome plant, 

 2 or 3 feet high, with a hollow branching stem, 

 spotted with purple. All these have white flowers. 

 Hemlock is celebrated as the poison with which 

 Socrates was put to death, and is used medicinally 

 in asthma and other convulsive diseases. 



Large species of this Order, 6 or 8 feet high, 

 and with flower-clusters several inches across, are 



