248 



UMBELLIFER.E. I. HYDROCOTYLE. 



reflexed. Fruit nearly globose ; mericarps solid, hemispherical : 

 with 5 primary, filiform, usually obliterated ribs, without any 

 secondary ribs or vittae. Carpophore bipartite, free in the 

 middle, but adnate at the base and apex. Seed hollowed in 

 front. Involucra and involucels composed of linear leaves. 



SUBOBDER I. ORTHOSPE'RMjE (from op$oc, orthos, 

 straight, and inripfia, sperma, a seed). D. C. prod. 4. p. 58. 

 Albumen flat on the inner side, neither involute, nor convolute. 



1. Umbels simple or imperfect. Fruit destitute ofvittce. 

 Tribe I. 



HYDROCOTY'LE^E (plants agreeing with Hydrocotyle in 

 important characters), or Orthospermeae, Imperfectae, Umbel- 

 latae, Compresses, D. C. prod. 4. p. 58. Hydrocoty'leae, Spreng. 

 in Schultes, syst. 6. p. 32. Koch, umb. p. 141. exclusive of 

 many genera. Fruit contracted from the sides ; back of carpella 

 or mericarps convex, rarely acute ; the 5 primary ribs or nerves 

 becoming immediately obsolete : lateral ribs marginating, or 

 thrown back into the flat commissure : secondary ones permanent 

 and filiform, sometimes absent or nearly so. Albumen flattish 

 in front. Petals spreading, entire, acute, straight, or rather in- 

 flexed at the point. This tribe represents the forms of nearly 

 all in the different genera ; it is distinguished from nearly all the 

 suborder Orthospermce, in the umbels of flowers being imper- 

 fect ; from Saniculeee in the lateral compression of the fruit, 

 and from Mulinece in the commissure not being gradually con- 

 tracted. 



I. HYDROCO'TYLE (from vSup, hydor, water, and KoruXij, 

 kotyle, a cavity ; in reference to the plants growing in moist 

 situations, and in the leaves being hollowed like a bowl). Tourn. 

 inst. t. 173. Thunb. diss. 1798. in diss. ed. Pers. 2. p. 410. 

 Spreng. umb. prod. p. 10. A. Rich. diss. 1820. in ann. sc. 

 phys. vol. 4. p. 1. Lag. am. nat. 2. p. 102. Koch, umb. p. 144. 

 f. 64. and 65. D. C. coll. mem. v. p. 26. Hydrocotyle and 

 Chondrocarpus (or Glyceria), Nutt. gen. amer. 1. p. 177. 



LIN. SYST. Pentdndria, Digijnia. Tube of calyx rather com- 

 pressed : limb with an obsolete margin. Petals ovate, entire, 

 acute, with a straight apex. Fruit flatly compressed from the 

 sides, biscutate. Mericarps or carpella without vittae : having 

 the 5 ribs or nerves nearly filiform : the earinal and lateral ones 

 usually obsolete, and the 2 intermediate ones joined. Seed 

 carinately compressed. Usually slender bog herbs, rarely sub- 

 shrubs. Umbel simple, surrounded by a few-leaved involu- 

 crum. Flowers sessile or pedicellate, white. This genus is 

 composed of a heterogeneous mass of species, and is therefore 

 probably divisible into several genera. 



SECT. I. EUHYDROCO'TYLE (this section is supposed to contain 

 the true species of the genus). D. C. prod. 4. p. 59. Hydro- 

 cotyle, Lin. gen. no. 325. Stems herbaceous, of nearly all the 

 species, creeping. Fruit compressed ; mericarps furnished with 

 1-2 ribs on each side. 



1. Leaves peltate. 



1 H. INTERRU'PTA (Muhl. cat. p. 10.) leaves peltate, doubly 

 crenated, 1 1 -nerved, and are, as well as the petioles, glabrous ; 

 flowers disposed in many, rather distant whorles : ultimate ones 

 umbellate; fruit rather attenuated at tlie base, coloured. l/.B. 

 H. Native of Carolina, Porto-Rico, Cape of Good Hope, 

 Japan, New Holland, Sandwich Islands, &c. in marshy places. 

 H. vulgaris, Michx. fl. bor. amer. 1. p. 161. H. verticillata, 

 Thunb. diss. 2. p. 415. t. 3. H. vulgaris /3, Rich. 1. c. t. 50. 

 f. 1. b. H. communis, Cham, et Schlecht. inLinriaea. 1. p. 356. 



Far. ft, tuberosa (D. C. prod. 4. p. 59.) stems tumid at the 

 nodes, and tuberous. 



far. -y, platyphylla (D. C. prod. 4. p. 667.) leaves 11-13- 

 nerved, twice the size. If.. H. Native of Tropical Africa, in 

 marshes at Cayor. 



Interrupted-flowered Penny-wort. Fl. May, June. PI. cr. 



2 H. VULGA'RIS (Lin. spec. p. 338.) leaves peltate, orbicular, 

 doubly crenated, 9-nerved ; petioles pilose at the apex ; umbels 

 capitate, usually 5-flowered ; fruit somewhat emarginate at the 

 base, of one colour. "If. . B. H. Native nearly throughout the 

 whole of Europe, in marshy boggy places, and on the margins of 

 clear rivulets, particularly on a peat soil ; plentiful in some parts 

 of Britain ; also of North America, in Canada. Fl. dan. t. 90. 

 Smith, engl. hot. t. 751. Curt. lond. 6. t. 19. Schkuhr, handb. 

 t. 59. Rich. hydr. no. 1. t. 50. f. 1. and t. 52. f. 1. exclusive of 

 the variety. Steins creeping, rooting at the nodi. Peduncles of 

 the umbels or scapes much shorter than the petioles. Flowers 

 reddish white or rose-coloured. There is a variety, but it is 

 rather rare, with smooth petioles, and with the limbs emarginate 

 at the base or nearly entire, and with the scapes drawn out be- 

 yond the umbels of flowers, and bearing 2 umbels each. Gerarde 

 calls this plant mater penny-wort* sheep-killing penny-grass ; in 

 the north of England it is called white-rot, to distinguish it from 

 red-rot ; in Norfolk Jlomk-rvort, from its being supposed to occa- 

 sion the flukes in the liver of rotten sheep ; and by the husband- 

 man sheep's-bane, " because it killeth sheep that do eat thereof." 

 This, however, is a vulgar error ; for the rot in sheep is owing 

 to their feeding in wet grounds, and perhaps to an insect (the 

 Fasciola hepatica), which from its shape is called a fluke or 

 flounder, and abounds in such situations, adhering to stones and 

 plants, as well as to the liver and biliary ducts of sheep af- 

 fected with the rot. This, together with Drosera or Sundew, 

 and Pinguicula or Butter-wort, are common in marshy places, and 

 therefore the rot in sheep has been ascribed to these; but it is 

 pretty certain that neither sheep nor any other quadruped feed 

 on these plants. 



Common Penny-wort. Fl. May, June. Britain. PI. cr. 



3 H. PUSI'LLA (Rich, hydro, p. 27. t. 52. f. 2.) plant rather 

 hairy ; leaves orbicular, not emarginate at the base, obsoletely 

 crenated, 7-nerved ; flowers umbellate ; umbels hardly contain- 

 ing so many as 12 flowers ; scapes equal in length to the petioles. 

 If. . F. Native about Monte Video, in arid places ; and on 

 shady rocks at Rio Paquaquer, in the province of Rio Janeiro ; 

 also of Buenos Ayres. Cham, et Schlecht. in Linnaea. 1. p. 

 357. Flowers small. Petioles biauriculate at the base, and as 

 if they were minutely stipulate (Rich.). Fruit smooth ; meri- 

 carps marked with a single elevated line on each side. The 

 Buenos Ayrean plant differs from the Brazilian one in being per- 

 fectly glabrous. 



Small Penny-wort. PI. creeping. 



4 H. MODE'STA (Cham, et Schlecht. 1. c. p. 358.) leaves on 

 long petioles, orbicularly reniform, glabrous, 9-nerved ; petioles 

 pilose at the apex, as well as the young branches ; umbels on 

 short peduncles, many rayed ; fruit small, emarginate at both 

 ends. I/ . B. F. Native of Brazil, in the province of Monte 

 Video; and of Chili about Valparaiso. Petioles 3-12 inches 

 long. Peduncles an inch long, rarely more, and sometimes only 

 3 lines. Fruit smaller than in any other species ; mericarps 

 marked with a hardly elevated line on the sides. 



Modest Pennywort. PI. cr. 



5 H. BARBARO'SSA (Cham, et Schlecht. 1. c. p. 360.) leaves 

 on long petioles, peltate, orbicular, 8-nerved, 8-lobed, and cre- 

 nated, and are, as well as the petioles, clothed with rufous hairs; 

 umbels on long peduncles, many (50-60) rayed; fruit nearly 

 globose, ovoid, rather emarginate, acutely ribbed. If. . F. Na- 

 tive of Brazil, in shady woods near New Friburg. Petioles 4-8 



