Slum.] LXVIII. UMBELLIFER^ (hIERN). 13 



12. SIXTM, Linn. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant, i. 893. 



Calyx-teeth obsolete ; petals oval with an inflected acumen, midrib 

 impressed, emarginate, connivent in bud j stamens exceeding the petals. 

 Stylopods convex, thick, margin entire j style short and contiguous in 

 flower, elongated and spreading in fruit. Fruit shortly ovoid, lateruUy 

 compressed, subdidymous, contracted at the commissure when ripe ; 

 mericarp somewhat pentagonal ; primary ridges rather prominent, 

 smooth, lateral ones near the commissure. Vittae oo. Carpophore 0. 

 Seeds terete-pentagonal. — Glabrous herbs, growing in marshy or sub- 

 aquatic places. Leaves pinnate, dentate ; umbel regularly compound, 

 terminal and lateral, furnished with many-leaved involucre and in- 

 volucels. 



A genus of a few species, found throughout the Northern hemisphere, and also in 

 South Africa. 



1. S. Thonbergii, DC, Prod. iv. 125. Stoloniferous, 2-3 ft. high ; 

 root fibrous ; stem erect, striate, ane-ular. Root-leaves a foot long, 

 with petioles 5 in. long, dilated and sheathing at the base j sheath 

 usually auricled or appendaged at apex, 2 in. long ; leaflets varying 

 in shape from ovate to oblong, sharply calloso-dentate, narrow and 

 somewhat oblique at base, sessile, l|-3 in. long; stem-leaves similar 

 but smaller. Fruiting umbels peduncled, of many slender rays, 1-2 in. 

 long ; secondary rays many, slender, |-| in. long. Bracts of the 

 involucre several, lanceolate-linear, acute, entire, 1— IJ in. long ; brac- 

 teole of the involucels similar, -f-J in. long. Fruit glabrous, ^^J^ in. 

 long. 



Nile Iiand. Abyssinia, Ant. Petit. 

 Occurs also in South Africa. 



tSium gallabatmse, Schweinf. in Beitr. Fl, ^thiop. i. 273, is said to grow in Abvs- 

 siiiia ; I have seen no specimen, and am not aware that it has been described. 



13. PIMPINELLA, Linn. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant, i. 893. 



Calyx-teeth obsolete ; petals ovate or ovate-lanceolate, glabrous or 

 minutely dentate, usually with an acute or blunt point, emarginat« or 

 entire, connivent in bud. Disk with thick stylopods, convex or coni- 

 cal, margin entire ; styles long or rather short, erect or spreading. 

 Fruit glabrous, papillose or covered with straight or hooked hairs, 

 laterally more or less compressed ; commissure wide ; primary ridges 

 equal ; secondary ridg-es absent. Vittoe usually alternating with the 

 primary ridges, 2 or more in the commissure of each mericarp, oc. 

 Carpophore bifid or bipartite. Seed subterete or dorsally compressed. 

 Herbs annual, biennial or perennial. Leaves pinnate or decompound ; 

 umbels regularly compound; bracts of the involucre or 1 -leaved or 

 in P. simensis sometimes many-leaved, of the involucels or of few- 

 leaves. Flowers white or slightly purplish. — Gyvinosciadiumj Hoclist. 

 Flora 1844, 20. 



