68 UMBELLIFER^ 



about a foot high, was described by our early botanists as growing in the 

 neighbourhood of London. Its flowers, which expand in June and July, are 

 very beautiful. Most botanists doubt if it was ever truly wild in this 

 country, and consider the record to be due to confusion with the next species. 

 2. Great Hartwort {T. mdximum). — Outermost petals with two equal 

 lobes ; involucres shorter than the umbels ; fruit scarcely notched, but having 

 a thick rim at its margin, and rough with bristles. Eoot annual. This is a 

 rare plant, found on waste grounds near London, Oxford, and one or two 

 other places. Its flowers are small, and of a pinkish colour, appearing in 

 June and July, and the stem is from two to four feet high. The French 

 call the Hartwort Le Seseli de CrHe. It is the Drehhraut of the Germans, 

 and the Gemein Kriezlaad of the Dutch. A very singular genus of plants, 

 named by Linnseus Hasselquista, after his friend Dr. Frederick Hasselquist, is 

 supposed to be but a monstrous form of the Hartwort. 



***** Fruit globose, without prickles ; carpels scarcely separating. 



29. Coriander (Coridndrum). 

 Common Coriander (C. sativum). — Stem erect, leafy, round, and 

 marked with lines ; lower leaves twice pinnate and cut ; upper ones with 

 segments more numerous, the segments of the upper leaves being hair-like 

 and rigid. Plant annual. The Coriander has so long been found growing 

 without cultiu'c in several places of this kingdom, that it is enumerated 

 among wild plants, though it has doubtless escaped from cultivation. It 

 occurs on waste places and fields, but chiefly near towns, and seems more 

 frequent in the south and east of England, having been much grown there. 

 Its stem is about a foot or a foot and a half high, and its white blossoms 

 may be seen in June. The plant may be known by its very singular and 

 pleasantly aromatic fruit, which, when fully grown, is a little ball, marked 

 with a few ribs. The foliage has a strong and offensive odour, which has 

 suggested the name. In the cottage garden there linger yet 



"Sweet chervil's cottage-valued weed, 

 And Coriander's spicy seed." 



These seeds are used to disguise the flavour of medicines, and form an in- 

 gredient in curry powder, and when covered with a coating of sugar, consti- 

 tute the well-known Coriander comfits. To render their flavour milder, the 

 seeds were formerly steeped first in wine, and afterwards in vinegar. The 

 flavour of the aromatic seeds is better liked in some other countries than in 

 ours, and Feuillee says that in Peru they are used to so great an extent 

 in the cookery, that an insupportable odour arises from some of the dishes 

 brought there to table. Coriander is used as a spice by the Arabs, and is 

 much relished in Egypt and India. It was among the ancients both a condi- 

 ment and medicine ; and from a passage in the Book of Numbers, where the 

 manna is said to be like Coriander seed, it would appear to have been in 

 common use among the Hebrews. It is frequently mentioned also by the 

 Talmudical writers. 



The French term the plant Coriandre ; the Germans call it Koriander ; 

 the Dutch and Russians Coriandro ; and the Spaniards Cilantro. 



