88 ANTHRISCUS. TORIHS. 



The leaves of our common hedge Umbelliferse are very beautiful, 

 })oth in form, division, and in colour. They are the types, and ushers 

 in spring, of our summer fenis, and not less ornamental. They 

 have a refreshing coolness about them that relieves and pleases the 

 eye ; but this is previous to the vipward shoot of the stalk and its 

 inflorescence. The Hemlock itself is beautiful in its spring foliage. 

 — And the stems abide long after the leaves and the flowers ha^e 

 decayed, and the fruit has been shed ; and become prominent amid 

 those minor features which characterize the winter landscape. The 

 dead cane-like stalks vary the hedge-row, stand conspicuous in the 

 underwood of our deans and plantations, and remain in rough bogs 

 and meadows as perches for the numerous finches. When the 

 ground has been thickly covered with snow, I have been interested 

 in watching these settle on the sprays for a moment, and then flit 

 chirping away, shaking down the crystals of snow in a small shower, 

 and strewing the white surface with the slender spokes of the imper- 

 fect umbels. 



258. Anthriscus vulgaris. Road-sides, common. June. The 

 smell and taste are peculiar and disagreeable. 



259. Myrrhis odorata. Myrrh. B. On the borders of 

 Coldingham moor. Rev. A. Baird. On waste grounds at Blackburn 

 mill. About Foulden mill, where it appeared a few years ago in pro- 

 fusion, and died away again in the course of a season or two. — R. 

 Pinnacle-hill near Kelso ; and at the side of the road at the race- 

 course. On the Tweed above Old Melrose. — D. On the road-side 

 near Cornhill. May. 



260. M. TEMULENTA = Ch8erophyllum temulentum. Hedges, 

 common. June-July. 



261. Caucus carota. Don Gard. Diet. iii. 354. Wl^il^ 

 Carrot. Borders of fields and road-sides, common in N. Durham, 

 and in the How-of-the-Merse, and wherever the subsoil is clayey. 

 The var. 3. of Withering, Bot. Arrang. ii. p. 290, is as frequent with 

 us as the normal one. — A decoction of the root, and an infusion of 

 the seeds, was a popular remedy for gravel. The remedy is now 

 rarely used. 



262. ToRiLis ANTHRISCUS. Hedges and borders of fields, 

 common. Aug. — The flowers of this vulgar species are the prettiest 

 of all our Umbelliferse. They are white or rose-coloured with pur- 

 plish-red anthers ; the under surface of the petals is bristly ; and the 

 fruit, usually of a purplish colour, is covered with rough prickles that 

 are curved and point upwards. 



18. Archangelica officinalis. — Garden Angelica. " Amongst the rockes 

 not farre from Barwicke." Johnson, OiJusc. Omn. Bot. Merc. Bot. pars 

 alt. p. 16. How's Phy. Brit. p. 8. 



19. Smyrnium olusatrum. — B. " In Scotia; littorcis rupibus non pi ocul 

 Bervico," Ray. Upon the sea-coast at Dunglass, on the edge of Berwick- 

 shire, Dr. Paisons. 



