-35THUSA. 



no channels visible between them, the dorsal ones the narrowest. Vittae 

 of the commissure 2, blood red, curved, more distant at the base than 

 at the apex. The leaves are poisonous, producing nausea, vomiting, 

 headach, giddiness, drowsiness, spasmodic pain, numbness, &c. The 

 leaves are dark in colour and nauseous in smell, which ought to prevent 

 its being mistaken for common parsley. 



FCENICULUM. 



Calyx a tumid obsolete rim. Petals roundish, entire, invo- 

 lute, with a squarish blunt lobe. Fruit nearly taper. Half- 

 fruits with 5 prominent bluntly keeled ridges, of which the la- 

 teral are on the edge, and rather the broadest. Vittae single in 

 the channels, 2 on the commissure. Biennials or perennials. 

 Leaves pinnated, decompound, with setaceous segments. In- 

 volucre none. Flowers yellow. 



88. F. vulgare G&rtn.carp. i. 105. DC. prodr.iv. 142. Nees 

 and Eberm. pi. mod. t. 277. handb. iii. 34. Smith Eng.fl. ii. 85. 

 Meum Freniculum Spreng. prodr. 32. Anethum Freniculum 

 Linn. sp. 377. Common on sandy and chalky ground all over 

 Europe. (Common Fennel.) 



Root tap-shaped. Herb smooth, of a deep glaucous green. Stem 3 or 

 4 feet high, erect, copiously branched, solid, round, striated, smooth, 

 leafy. Leaves triply pinnate ; leaflets thread-like, acute, long, more or 

 less drooping; footstalks with a broad, firm, sheathing base. Umbels ter- 

 minal, very broad, flat, of very numerous, smooth, angular, rather stout 

 rays ; the partial rays much more slender, short, very unequal. Bracts 

 entirely wanting. Calyx none. Petals obovate, with a broad, obtuse, 

 inflexed point, altogether of a golden yellow, as well as the stamens. 

 Styles very short, with a large, ovate pale yellow base. Fruit ovate, 

 not quite 2 lines long, pale bright brown, smooth ; ridges sharp, with 

 but little space between each, the lateral ones rather the broadest ; ter- 

 minated by a permanent conical disk. Oil of wild fennel, is obtained 

 from the fruit. 



89. F. dulce C. Bauh.pin. 147. DC. prodr. iv. 142. Pe- 

 reira in med. gaz. xix. 685. Italy, Portugal, &c. (Sweet 

 fennel.) 



This is extremely like the last; only it is a very much smaller plant, and 

 the umbels consist, as De Candolle has truly remarked, of only 6-8 

 rays, not of 13-20, as in common fennel. There is also a considerable 

 difference in the fruit as will appear by comparing the following de- 

 scription with that given under the last species. Fruit narrow, oblong, 

 3 lines long, pale dull brown, smooth ; ridges sharpish, with a space 

 between each for a convex line indicating the vitts, the lateral ones 

 rather the broadest; not a trace of calyx. Italian writers usually 

 consider it a cultivated variety of common fennel. Oil of sweet fen- 

 nel is obtained from the fruit; its nature is similar to that from other 

 apiacea?. 



41 



