Parsley and Carrot 167 
and others. The fruits of Cow Parsnip have four of 
these oil-tubes, or vittw, as they are termed, on the 
outer face, and two on the inner. The fruits in this 
family do not split open to release the seed, as in 
most other cases, so that the well-known flavouring 
“carraway-seeds” are not merely seeds, but seeds 
plus seed-vessels. 
If we visit almost any marshy place, we shall find 
a little plant, with roundish leaves, the stalk of which 
is attached to the centre of the under-side. This is 
commonly known as Marsh Penny-wort (Hydrocotyle 
vulgaris), but farmers and shepherds call it White-rot, 
in the belief that their flocks and herds eating it 
become subject to disease ; the disease, however, is due 
to an animal parasite, the Liver-fluke, which abounds 
inmarshy ground. The plant hasa creeping white stem, 
which roots at intervals, and there sends up several 
leaves, and between them its simple little umbels of 
minute greenish flowers. Simple leaves of this kind 
are rare among the umbel-bearers, but on chalky 
ground in the south-east of our island grows another 
such, known as the Hare’s-ear (Bupleurum rotundi- 
folium). This has egg-shaped leaves, the broad end 
of which completely encircles the stem. In the 
language of the textbooks, the leaf is amplexicaul 
and the stem perfoliate. A novice would never take 
this plant to be an umbel-bearer, for the little umbels 
of a few tiny yellow flowers are each enclosed in 
from three to five large leafy bracts, which look like 
green petals, within which the actual flowers may 
pass as stamens. A closer scrutiny, however, will 
soon put one right on this point. 
The well-known Sea-holly (Lryngiwm mari- 
