152 ENGLISH BOTANY. 



Calyx-teeth obsolete. Cremocarp obovate, oval, or roundish ; com- 

 missure with 2 vittaj. 



]5y road-sides, in waste places, pastures, &c. Very common in 

 chalky districts, more rare elsewhere ; but pretty generally distri- 

 buted throughout England as far North as Durham and Lancashire. 

 In Scotland it has been found in Ayrshire and Arran, but no 

 doubt escaped from cultivation. 



England, [Scotland,] Ireland. Biennial or Annual. Summer 



and Autumn. 



Root tapering, slender in the wild plant. Stem erect, 1 to 4 feet 

 high, solid, furrowed and angular, rough and pubescent, slightly 

 branched, the upper branches generally opposite. Leaves with 

 2 to 5 pairs of leaflets and a terminal one which is generally 3- 

 lobed ; leaflets 1 to 3 inches long, variable in breadth and in the 

 degree of lobing or incision, crenate-serrate with the serratures 

 pointed, pubescent beneath or on both sides, rarely glabrous on 

 both sides. Umbels of 6 to 20 straight rather thick rays, | to 

 2 inches long ; pedicels i to J inch. Elowers n, inch across, bright- 

 yellow. Cremocarp variable in breadth and shape, from } to ^ inch 

 long, brown when ripe, doubly convex ; mericarps each with 5 

 ridges, the 3 dorsal ones contiguous, the lateral ones remote ; wing 

 very narrow, forming a border to the cremocarp. The fruit of the 

 central umbel is usually larger and broader than that of the lateral 

 ones. Plant rather dull-green, very variable. M. Jordan divides 

 it into several species, the distinctions between w^hich are unsatis- 

 factory. 



JP^ild Farsnip. 



French, Panais Cultive. German, Gemeine Pastinake. 



The name of this plant is spelt in the old herbals Parsnep, which shows its 

 derivation from the Latin pastus, and napus, a turnip. It is a valuable agricultural 

 plant, and has long been much esteemed as food for man and cattle. 



It was known to the Romans and most of the ancient European nations. The 

 Emperor Tiberius was so fond of the roots that he had them brought from Germany, 

 where they grew to a larger size than they attained to the south of the Alps. In the 

 middle ages they were much used as an accompaniment to salt fish eaten during Lent, 

 and this practice is now often followed. In the North of Scotland, Neil observes, 

 " Parsnips are often beat up with potatoes and a little butter ; of this excellent mess 

 the children of the peasantry are very fond, and they do not fail to thrive upon it." 

 In the North of Ireland a pleasant table beverage is prepared from the roots ; brewed 

 with hops, Parsnip wine is also made in some places ; and they afford an excellent 

 ardent spirit when distilled. The diflferences between the wild Parsnip and the 

 cultivated root have led mano^ to doubt whether they be the same species ; but this 

 doubt is now set at rest by the experiments of Professor Buckman, who succeeded 

 perfectly in producing fine specimens of the cultivated Parsnip from roots taken up 



