158 FOUNDATIONS OF BOTANY 
often lobed. Peduncle bearing several umbels of cream-colored 
flowers, in a terminal corymb. Fruit blue-black. Dry fields and 
pastures E. 
2. A. nudicaulis, L. SARSAPARILLA. Perennial herb; roots very 
long, somewhat fleshy, aromatic; stem very short or none. Leaf 
solitary, from a sheathing base, petioled, 6-12 in. long ; compound in 
threes, each division 3—5-pinnate; leaflets oval or ovate, taper-pointed, 
finely and sharply serrate, smooth above, often downy below. Scape 
nearly as long as the petiole, usually bearing 3 short, peduncled 
umbels. Flowers greenish. Styles distinct. Fruit globose, black. 
In rich woods. 
72. UMBELLIFERZ. Parstey FAmiIty. 
‘ Herbs, usually with hollow, grooved stems. Flowers small, 
generally in umbels. Calyx-tube adnate to the ovary ; limb 
of the calyx either wanting or present only as a 5-toothed rim_ 
or margin around the top of the ovary. Petals 5. Stamens 5, 
inserted on the disk, which is borne by the ovary (Fig. 19). 
Ovary 2-celled and 2-ovuled (Fig. 19), ripening into 2 
akene-like carpels, which separate from each other. Each 
carpel bears 5 longitudinal ribs, in the furrows between which 
secondary ribs frequently occur. On a cross-section of the 
fruit, oil-tubes are seen, traversing the interspaces between 
the ribs, and near the surface of the fruit (Fig. 19). The 
seeds contain a small embryo, enclosed in considerable endo- 
sperm. [The family is a difficult one, since the flowers are 
so much alike that the species are distinguished from each 
other mainly by minute characteristics of the fruit. ] 
I. ERYNGIUM, Tourn. 
Annual, biennial, or perennial herbs. Stems erect or creep- 
ing. Leaves simple, mostly linear and spiny-toothed. Flowers 
white or blue, in dense, bracted heads or spikes, flowers brac- 
teolate. Calyx-teeth rigid, persistent. Petals erect, pointed. 
Styles slender. Fruit top-shaped, scaly or granular, ribs want- 
ing, oil-tubes usually 5, minute.* 
