394 FEUCEDANDM. t CLASS 



was esteemed for its supposed medical virtues. The seeds are said to 

 possess diuretic properties, but it is not now used as a medicine. 



GENUS LXXV. PEUCE\DANUM. LINN. Hogs Fennel 



GEN. CHAR. Calyx margin of five teeth, sometimes obsolete. Petals 

 obovate, emarginate, or entire, with an infiexed point. Fruit 

 flattened at the back with a broad thin margin. Carpels with five 

 nearly equi-distant ridges, the three dorsal ones filiform, the 

 lateral ones more obsolete, near to, or confounded with, the dilated 

 margin. Channels with one to three vittee. Albumen flat in 

 front. Pericarp double. General involucre various, partial of 

 numerous segments. Name from vevx.*, a Pine tree; and Jvoj 

 dwarf; on account of the narrow leaves of some of the species 

 resembling a Pine tree, or from some species giving a resinous 

 extract. 



1. P. ojffi'cinale, Linn. (Fig. 454.) Hog^s Fennel, or Sea Sulphur 

 Weed. Stem round, striated ; leaves five times tri-partite ; leaflets 

 linear, flaccid, tapering at the extremities; involucre of few linear 

 deciduous segments; pedicles two or three times longer than the fruit. 

 English Botany, t. 1767. English Flora, vol. ii. p. 99. Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol. i. p. 134. Lindley, Synopsis, p. 117. 



Hoot tapering, large, stout, fleshy, containing a resinous juice of a 

 sulphureous smell. Stem erect, round, smooth, numerously striated, 

 slender, smooth, branched and leafy. Leaves on round striated foot- 

 stalks, large, divided, five times tri-partite, leaflets simple, linear, flat, 

 about an inch and half long, tapering at each end, three ribbed, the 

 terminal leaflet of three segments. Umbels terminal and lateral, 

 large, of numerous long slender unequal striated rays, the partial of 

 numerous very slender nearly equal rays, both general and partial 

 involucre of numerous narrow linear segments, soon falling away, 

 sometimes one or two remaining. Flowers numerous, yellow. Calyx 

 of five small acute teeth. Petals inversely heart-shaped, nearly entire, 

 with a small inflexed point. Stamens on long slender filaments, with 

 small roundish anthers. Styles short, elongating, and reflexed, the 

 stigmas small, notched. Disk somewhat convex. Fruit ovate, 

 flattened at the back, with a narrow flat dilated margin. Carpels with 

 slender filiform nearly equal ridges, the two near the dilated margin 

 scarcely distinguished. Channels with from one to three vittee. Al- 

 lumen flat in front, convex at the back. 



Habitat. Salt marshes and meadows ; very rare. In Kent, Sussex, 

 and Essex . 

 Perennial ; flowering from July to September. 



