54 UMBELLIFER^ 



* * * Umhch compound ; fruit not jyrickli/, nor beaked, nor ffafteneiJ. 

 Ifi. Water Dropwort (thJudnthe). 



1. Common Water Dropwort ((U. Jistulosa). — Stem sending out 

 runners from its base ; stem-leaves pinnate, shorter than their tubular stalks ; 

 umbels of very few rays ; universal involucre wanting ; fruit tipped with the 

 long rigid styles. Plant perennial. This Dropwort, though rare in Scotland, 

 is a very common English plant. It grows in ditches and rivulets to the 

 height of two or three feet, and is easily distinguished from its allies by 

 its remarkably tubular habit. The lower leaves are entirely beneatii the 

 water, and the leaflets of these are flat, iDut all the rest of the plant is com- 

 posed of tubes. The flowers, which are greenish-white, expand from July 

 to September, and the angled corky fruits form dense globular heads, each 

 as large as a small marble. Like several other species, this is a poisonous 

 plant. It is, with many similar plants, called by country people Wild Parsley. 

 The French term the Dropwort UCEnantM, the Germans Die Rehendolde ; it 

 is the Druivehloem of the Dutch, and the Enante of the Italians. The plant 

 was said, by Pliny, to smell like the vine in flower. 



2. Callous-fruited Water Dropwort {E. pinpindldides). — Root of 

 long fibres, studded with round or oval knobs ; root-leaves twice pinnate, with 

 leaflets acutely cut, or 3-cleft ; stem-leaves simply pinnate, shorter than their 

 stalks ; fruit cylindrical, with an enlarged corky base. Plant perennial. 

 This species has a compact umbel of white flowers, the partial umbels being 

 all crowded together. It is from half a foot to three feet in height, and its 

 general involucre has from- one to six leaves, but is sometimes Avanting ; the 

 partial involucres consist of many leaves. Though in its wild state the root 

 is poisonous, yet when the plant is cultivated it loses its noxious proper- 

 ties, and is eaten as food. The knobs then contain a mild farinaceous 

 substance, and have somewhat the flavour of filberts. The plant is grown 

 about Angers, and. the roots sold in the neighbouring markets. This 

 species blossoms from June to August, and is tolerably abundant on the 

 pastures of many counties, as in Gloucester, Worcester, Dorset, and Devon, 

 growing occasionally in salt marshes. It is more slender in form than most 

 of the species, and must be considered as a rare plant. 



3. Parsley Water Dropwort {(E. lachendlii). — Stem erect; root- 

 leaves twice pinnate ; leaflets oblong, entire, or wedge-shaped, and bluntly 

 2 — 3-lobed ; lower stem-leaves 2 — 3-pinnate, upper simply pinnate ; leaflets 

 linear, acute ; general involucre of many leaves, sometimes wanting ; root 

 perennial, and composed of thick fibres, or spindle-shaped knobs. This 

 plant is not unfrequent on salt marshes, and occurs, though more rarely, in 

 fresh water. The stem is from one to three feet high, and slightly branched ; 

 and its flower, which consists of many distinct spherical partial umbels, may 

 be seen from July to September. The root-leaves are very evanescent, but 

 the root and the fruit distinguish the plant. The latter is top-shaped, 

 narrowing gradually at the base, and crowned with the calyx, which bends 

 inwards. It is less common in Scotland than in England. 



4. Sulphur-wort Water Dropwort {(E. silaifoliu). — Eoot of oblong 

 knobs ; radical-leaves twice pinnate ; stem-leaves pinnate, all the leaflets 



