132 AMONG THE WILD FLOWERS. 
tion of the umbelliferous plants is given, be- 
cause the difference is so great in the aspect of 
the foliage of some of them, and consequently 
of their general appearance, that the only 
method of including the whole Family is thus 
to describe the flowers and fruit ; compare, for 
example, the little peltate-leafed Hydrocotyle 
with the stately pinnatifid-leafed Hemlock, or 
Angelica; yet it is true that most of the British 
species of this Order do correspond closely. 
The leaf stalks are frequently dilated at the 
base, forming a sheath for young buds. The 
umbels vary from 1 to 12 inches across. 
One prodigious species, the Siberian Cow-Par- 
snep, the largest discovered, is found in gardens 
and shrubberies, its main stem rising from 8 
to 15 feet, and the terminal umbels measur- 
ing more than a yard across. This is either 
Fleracleum giganteum or H, Sibtricum. 
The smaller divisions of the inflorescence of 
an Umbellifer are called wmdellules ; the stalks 
that support them are the vays ; at the base of 
the rays there are often bracts, several of which 
together form an zxvolucrum. ‘The flowers are 
most commonly white; in a few cases yellow, 
and also pinkish. 
