306 



UMBELLIFER^E. LXV. jEtausA. LXVI. FOZNICULUM. 



or of 1 leaf ; involucels of 3 or 5 spreading, or pendulous, seta- 

 ceous leaves, situated on the outside of the umbellules, that is, 

 unilateral. Flowers white. Three species of this genus are 

 admitted, but they are probably only varieties of one. 



1 SL. CYNA'PIUM (Lin. spec. p. 367.) leaflets wedge-shaped, 

 decurrent, with lanceolate segments ; rays of umbel nearly 

 equal ; involucrum wanting ; involucels of 3 leaves, which are 

 longer than the umbellules. () H. Native throughout the 

 whole of Europe, in cultivated grounds : a common weed. 

 Smith, engl. bot. 1192. Curt. lond. fasc. 1. t. 18. Bull. herb, 

 t. 91. Hayn. arz. gew. 1. t. 35. Hoflfm. umb. p. 97. Cori- 

 andrum cynapium, Crantz, fl. aust. p. 221. Cicuta cynapium, 

 Targ. ist. bot. Cynapium, Riv. pentap. irr. t. 76. Cicutaria 

 tenuifolia, Raii, syn. 215. C. fatua, Lob. icon. 2. p. 280. f. 1. 

 Herb erect, lurid green, fetid, and reckoned dangerous. Great 

 carelessness can alone cause this weed to be mistaken for garden 

 parsley ; yet such an accident sometimes happens. The 3 long 

 pendulous bracteas under each umbellule distinguish it from all 

 its tribe. Dr. Bigelow, of Boston in New England, observed 

 this jEthilsa to be without scent in America, but seeds trans- 

 mitted by him produced plants with the same nauseous garlick 

 flavour as those of Great Britain. Some curious facts of a 

 similar nature have been observed. The flowers of Hesperis 

 matronalis are said to lose their scent in America, after the first 

 generation. 



Dog's-poison, or Common Fool's-parsley. Fl. July, Aug. 

 Britain. PI. 1 to 2 feet. 



2 IE. CYNAPIOI'DES (Bieb. fl. taur. 1. p. 227. suppl. p. 233.) 

 segments of the leaves oblong, acute ; rays of umbel nearly 

 equal ; involucrum wanting ; involucel of 3 leaves, which are 

 shorter than the umbellule ; vittse in the commissure contiguous 

 at the base. Q. H. Native of the Ukrane, in shady places. 

 Hoffm. ed. 2. p. 98. and 205. and tit. f. 9. Very nearly allied 

 to the first species, but differs in being larger, more branched, 

 and 3 feet in height, or more. 



Cynapium-like Fool's-parsley. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1817. 

 PI. 2 to 3 feet. 



3 IE. ELA V TA (Friedlander, ex Fisch. cat. hort. gor. 1813. p. 

 45.) segments of the leaves bluntish ; involucrum usually of 1 

 leaf; involucels of 1-3 leaves, which are longer than the um- 

 bellules ; outer rays of umbel longest ; pedicels twice the length 

 of the fruit. Q. H. Native of Podolia. HofFm. umb. ed. 

 2. p. 98. Besser. enum. p. 54. Horn. cat. 4. hort. hafn. 

 suppl. p. 34. Petals white, not as in JE. cynapium, greenish 

 at the base. Styles purple after flowering. The plant is said 

 to be edible, and not poisonous as the others. 



Tall Fool's-parsley. Fl. Jul. Aug. Clt. 1820. PI. 2 to 3 ft. 

 Cult. The seeds only require to be sown in the open ground. 



LXVI. FCENrCULUM (the Latin name of the fennel, from 

 foenum, hay ; the smell of the plant resembling that of hay). 

 'Adans. fam. 2. p. 101. Gaertn. fruct. 1. p. 105. t. 23. Hoffm. 

 umb. p. 120. t. 1. f. 13. e. Lag. am. nat. 2. p. 99. Koch, 

 umb. p. 112. D. C. prod. 4. p. 142. Anethum species of 

 Lin. Meum species of Spreng. 



LIN. SYST. Pentdndria, Digynia. Margin of calyx tumid, 

 obsolete, toothless. Petals roundish, entire, involute, with a 

 rather square retuse point. Transverse section of fruit nearly 

 terete ; mericarps with 5 prominent, bluntly keeled ribs : lateral 

 ribs marginal, and a little broader than the rest ; vittae 1 in each 

 furrow, and 2 in the commissure. Seed somewhat semi-terete. 

 Biennial or perennial herbs. Roots fusiform. Stems terete, 

 striated, branched. Leaves triply pinnate, decompound : with 

 linear, setaceous leaflets. Involucra and involucels almost wanting. 

 Flowers yellow. This genus differs from Anethum with which 

 it was formerly combined, by the mericarps being more turgid : 



having the margin rather more compressed than the back ; and 

 the transverse section of the fruit is therefore nearly terete, or 

 with the margin rather compressed. 



1 F. VULGA'RE (Ray, syn. 217. Gaertn. fruct. 1. p. 105.) 

 stem terete at the base ; leaves bipinuate, distich ; leaflets awl- 

 shaped, drooping ; umbels 13-20-rayed ; involucra and invo- 

 lucels wanting. If. . H. Native of Europe, in exposed, uncul- 

 tivated places ; in Britain, on chalky cliffs, very plentiful ; and 

 of Caucasus, near Baku, and in the plains between Sallian and 

 Lenkeron. Anethum Fceniculum, Lin. spec. 722. Smith, engl. 

 bot. t. 1208. Mill. fig. t. 13. Hayne, arz. gew. 7. t. 18. Fce- 

 niculum officinale, All. pedem. no. 1359. Meum Foeniculum, 

 var. a, Spreng. prod. p. 32. and in Schultes, syst. 6. p. 433. 

 Ligusticum Fceniculum, Roth. germ. 1. p. 124. Fceniculum, 

 Math, valgr. 2. p. 135. f. 1. Cam. epit. p. 534. f. 1. The taste 

 and aromatic flavour of this our garden fennel are well known, 

 and has long been an inmate of our gardens. The tender stalks 

 are used in salads ; the leaves boiled enter into many fish sauces. 

 The sweet and warm seeds are a common carminative medicine 

 for infants. The blanched stalks of the next species, F. dulce, 

 called Jinocchio, are eaten with oil, vinegar, and pepper, as a cold 

 salad, and they arQ likewise sometimes put into -soups. This 

 thickened part is blanched by earthing up, and is then very 

 tender. " Owing to the peculiar nature of this species," Mr. 

 Neill observes, " it is more tender than the common fennel, 

 and often perishes in the course of the winter. Misled by this 

 circumstance, several horticultural writers describe it as an 

 annual plant, under the name of Anethum segetum." All are 

 raised from seed, of which half an ounce is sufficient for a seed- 

 bed 4 feet by 6 feet. Sometimes also they are raised from 

 offsets from the old plants, where only a few are wanted. Sow 

 in the spring in light earth, either in drills from 6-12 inches 

 apart, or broad cast and raked in. When the plants are 3 or 4 

 inches high, thin or transplant a quantity 15 inches asunder. 

 As the roots of old plants divide into offsets, these may be slipped 

 off in spring, summer, or autumn, and planted a foot apart. 

 They will produce immediate leaves for present supply and in 

 continuance ; or for immediate larger supply of leaves, you may 

 procure some established full roots, and plant as above ; let 

 them be well watered. The same plants remain several years 

 by the root ; but as fennel sends up strong stems for seed in 

 summer, these, or a part of them, should be cut down, to encou- 

 rage a production of young leaves below in succession. It is 

 apt to spread more than is desirable, if suffered to seed. The 

 swelling stems of the Finbcchio or F. dulce, when of some toler- 

 able substance, should be earthed up on each side 5 or 6 inches 

 to blanch them white and tender. This will be effected in 10 

 days or a fortnight ; and by successive sowings or cutting down 

 plants during summer, successive crops of blanched stalks may 

 be had from June to December. In procuring seed, permit 

 some of the best flower-stems to shoot ; and they will produce 

 large umbels of seeds in autumn. 



Common Fennel. Fl. Jul. Aug. Brit. PI. 4 to 6 feet. 



2 F. DU'LCE (C. Bauh. pin. p. 147.) stem rather compressed 

 at the base ; radical leaves rather distich : leaves all tripinnate ; 

 with capillary elongated leaflets ; umbels 6-8-rayed. $ . H. 

 Native of Italy, and Portugal, where it is cultivated for the sake 

 of the blanched stalks, under the name of Finocchio. Finocchio 

 dulce, Targ. cors. agr. 2. p. 52. Anethum dulce, D. C. cat. 

 hort. monsp. p. 78. Fceniculum dulce, &c. J. Bauh. hist. 3. 

 p. 4. with a figure. It differs from the preceding species in 

 being hardly a foot high, in the earlier florescence, in the darker 

 hue, in the stalks being edible, and in the characters given 

 above. The use of this kind of fennel is given above with the 

 common fennel. 



Sweet Fennel or Finocchio. Fl. May, June. Clt. ? PI. 1 ft. 



