202 



UMBELLfFER^. 



7. Smyrnium (Alexanders). — Stout, erect, smooth plants ; 

 leaves 3 — 4-ternate, with broad segments ; umbels compound ; 

 bracts and bracteoles few or none ; sepals minute or none ; petals 

 yellow. (Name from the Greek s??mrna, myrrh, from the scent 

 of some species.) 



I. .S. Olusdtrum (Common Alexanders). — A stout plant, 3 — 4 

 feet high ; ste??i smooth, furrowed, and hollow ; leaves broad, bright 

 green, glossy, 3 — 4-ternate ; umbels many, large, rounded ; floivers 

 greenish-yellow; fruit dark brown or nearly black when ripe, 



SMYRNIUM olusAtrum {ComiHon Alexanders). 



aromatic. — Waste ground, especially near the sea and among ruins. 

 It was formerly cultivated, its young shoots being boiled and 

 eaten. — Fl. April — June. Biennial. 



8. BuPLEURUM (Buplever). — Erect, smooth plants ; leaves 

 reduced to simple, entire sheaths ; 2imbels compound : bracts and 

 bracteoles sometimes numerous and leafy ; sepals absent ; petals 

 yellow, inflexed ; fruit oblong ; carpels with 5 usually prominent 

 ridges. (Name said to be from the Greek bous^ an ox, a.nd. pleuron, 

 a rib, from the ribbed leaves of some species.) 



I. B. rotundifdlium (Common Hare's-ear or Thorow-wax).- — 

 A singular plant, well distinguished by its branched stem; 



