WOODS AND THICKETS IN SUMMER 139 



globular, berry-like drupe, containing a stone with one or two 

 seeds. 



In very dense woods, where the light is so much reduced that but 

 few flowers ■will grow, we may generally find the Wood Sanicle 

 (Sanictda europcea), a smooth umbelliferous plant with a short, hard 

 rootstock, and a simple stem from one to two feet high. The leaves, 

 which are all radical, are on long stalks, and are palmately divided 

 into tlu-ee or five shining lobes that are themselves cut and sharply 

 toothed. The flowers are sessile, in little rounded heads ; the 



THE iUjEXANDERS. 



whole inflorescence forming an irregular umbel or a loose panicle. 

 They are very minute, of a pinkish white colour ; and the outer 

 ones of each head usually have no pistil. They bloom during June 

 and July, and are followed later by little prickly fruits about a 

 sixth of an inch long. 



In damp woods we commonly meet with the tall, stout, branching 

 Angelica [Angelica sylvestris) of the same order [Umbelliferce), with 

 a thick, furrowed stem, two to fom: feet high, downy above, and 

 usually more or less shaded with purple. Its lower leaves are 

 very large, with stalked, ovate leaflets, from one to two inches long, 

 often tliree-lobed, and always sharply toothed. The upper leaves 

 are much smaller, with fewer leaflets, and often consist onlj^ of a 

 broad sheath with a few small leaflets at its summit. The flowers 



