WAYSIDES AND WASTES IN SPRING 



95 



order {Cucurhitacece). It has a very thick rootstock ; a slender stem, 

 that often reaches a length of ten feet or more ; large, bright green, 

 palmate leaves with three, five or seven angular, coarsely-toothed 

 lobes ; and long simple or branched tendrils. The flowers are im- 

 perfect, the males and females growing on separate plants. The 

 former are of a pale 

 yellow colour, in stalked 

 clusters, each one consist- 

 ing of a spreading, five- 

 lobed corolla, about half 

 an inch in diameter, and 

 five stamens, one of which 

 is free, while the other 

 four are united in pairs : 

 the females are smaller, 

 generally in pairs, each 

 consisting of a globular 

 ovary with three stigmas, 

 and a superior, five-lobed 

 corolla. The fruit is a 

 scarlet or orange-coloured 

 berry, about a third of an 

 inch in diameter, contain- 

 ing several seeds. The 

 whole plant is clothed 

 with small, white hairs, 

 and contains an acrid sap. Time of flowering — May to September. 



The Common Beaked Parsley {Anihriscus vulgaris), of the order 

 Umbelliferce, is very common by waysides, flowering during May 

 and June. The stem of this plant is smooth and shining, from 

 two to three feet high, slightly swollen at the nodes. The leaves are 

 tripinnate, with blunt segments, and slightly haiiy on the inider 

 side. The white flowers are arranged in compound umbels with 

 short stalks, and the innbels ckoop liefore the flowers open. There 

 are no l)racts at the base of the main pedicels, but five or six bracfeoles, 

 with fringed edges, lie at the foot of the secondary pedicels. The 

 fruits are short, ovate, with short beaks and hooked bristles. 

 As with the other members of this genus, the petals have an 

 inflexed Up. 



This genus includes the Chervil or Wild Beaked Parsley {A. 

 si/lvestris), which is very common in hedges and waysides, flowering 



The Moschatel. 



