■74 UMBELLIFER^ 



herb, and was also used for salads, and to give flavour to soups. The stem 

 of the Chervil is slender, about a foot or a foot and a half high ; and the 

 whole plant is very delicate and graceful, and of pale yellowish-green. It is 

 the Cerfeuil of the French ; the Kalbcrkro]?/ of the G-ermans ; the Kervel of the 

 Dutch ; the Cerfoglio of the Italians. 



3. Common Beaked Parsley {A. vulgdris). — Umbels stalked, opposite 

 the leaves , stem smooth ; leaves thrice pinnate ; leaflets pinnatifid ; fruit 

 rather large, egg-shaped, and bristly, with a short smooth beak. Plant 

 annual. This wild Chervil has some general resemblance to the Sweet 

 Chervil of the garden, though its stem is taller and thicker, and swollen 

 beneath each joint. It is more often found near towns and villages than 

 elsewhere, and is not uncommon on waste places and by road-sides. The 

 small white flowers expand in May and June. The foliage is considered 

 unwholesome, and is said, by its resemblance to the garden Chervil, to have 

 misled some Dutch sailors who were in England in 1745, and who, having 

 put it into soups, were rendered ill by its use, while to some of their number 

 it proved fatal. Yet Hooker fils says it was formerly cultivated as a pot- 

 her)). 



35. Chervil {Gluerophyllwn). 



1. Rough Chervil (C. temuUntum). — Stem round, rough, and spotted, 

 swelling below each joint; leaves broadly oblong, pinnatifid, with spine- 

 tipped segments. Plant biennial. The tall stems of this plant, often attain- 

 ing the height of three feet, render it very conspicuous in hedges and among 

 bushes during June and July. The umbels of the flowers are white, and at 

 first drooping ; and the short beaks of the fruit, in this as well as the other 

 species, procured for it its French name of Cerfeuil a fruits courts. The 

 Germans call the plant Ranhe Kerbel, and it is the JFilde Kervel of the Dutch. 

 This herb is said to possess very dangerous properties, and, when eaten, to 

 produce giddiness. A species of this Chervil (C. hidhdsum), which we are 

 accustomed to consider deleterious, but Avhich is sometimes found in our 

 gardens, is, however, used with safety in cookery by the Kalmucks, and the 

 root is eaten in its uncooked state. These people consider the plant as 

 affording a nutritious and excellent food ; but it is likely that climate affects 

 its properties. 



2. Tawny-fruited Chervil (C. aureum). — Stem swelling below the 

 joints, rough ; leaves thrice pinnate ; leaflets pinnatifid. Plant perennial. 

 Sir William Hooker and Dr. Arnott remark of this plant : " Leaflets 

 peculiarly attenuated, at least on the upper leaves (for the radical ones are 

 more obtuse), a character which distinguishes this from every other British 

 species." The stem is from three to four feet high, angular and spotted, and 

 the umbels of white flowers appear in June. It has an aromatic odour. 

 George Don reported that he had found it in fields near Montrose, and at 

 Corstorphine, Edinl)urgh, but though these localities have been repeatedly 

 searched, no one has succeeded in substantiating his record. 



3. Broad-leaved Chervil {C. aromdticum). — Leaves twice pinnate; 

 leaflets undivided, serrated, and tapering to a sharp point; root perennial. 

 This plant, which grows to the height of about two or three feet, was 



