.28 PENTANDR1A. 



Parsley, which is in general use to communicate an agreea 

 ble flavor to soups, and Celery, a well known sallad, are the 

 two principal species of this genus. 



Celery, (Apium graveolens,} is considered one of the most 

 valuable of the sallads, because it is eaten during the winter, 

 when others are out of season. This is a remarkable in- 

 stance of the effect of cultivation on a vegetable, the wild 

 Parsley being rank, coarse, hard, and entirely unfit to eat, 

 while the Celery into which the gardener converts it, is 

 sweet, crisp, juicy, and of a most agreeable flavor. 



GENUS Crithmum, Fig. 160. Samphire. 

 Crithmum comes from a Greek word, sig- 

 nifying barley, because the seeds of this 

 plant resemble grains of barley. Samphire 

 grows about a foot high. Its stalk and 

 leaves are thick and fleshy, as shown in the 

 figure, and it is found chiefly among cliffs 

 near the sea-shore, though it may be culti- 

 vated in dry shady places, any where. 

 The inhabitants, where it abounds, use it as a pot herb, and 

 an ingredient in sallads. But its chief use, is that of a pickle. 

 The Marsh Samphire, (Salicornia,) is a leafless plant, and be- 

 longs to the class Monandria, while the real Samphire 

 belongs to class V., and is an umbelliferous plant. These 

 have sometimes been confounded, the name Samphire having 

 been improperly applied to the former. 



UMBELLIFEROUS TRIBE. 



To this class and order belong chiefly that large natural 

 tribe of plants called umbelliferous, so termed, as we have 

 formerly explained, in consequence of their peculiar inflores- 

 cence. The essential characters of this order are calyx supe- 

 rior, either entire, or five toothed ; petals five ; stamens five, 

 alternate with the petals ; seed pendulous, usually adhering 

 inseparably to the pericarpium ; plants herbaceous, with hol- 

 low furrowed stems ; leaves usually divided, sometimes 

 simple, sheathing at the base ; flowers in umbels, color white, 

 pink, yellow, or blue, generally surrounded by an involucrum. 

 See Lindley's Nat. System. 



These plants are chiefly natives of the northern parts of 

 the northern hemisphere, inhabiting groves, thickets, plains, 



What are the essential characters of the umbelliferous tribes ? 



