Fine species of Cowparsnep. 395 



tip of the leaf, five feet and ten inches in length, and its great- 

 est breadth is that of more than four feet. The other leaf, 

 cut at random, was five feet in length, measured in the same 

 way as was the last. The petiole is hollow, stout, and lon- 

 gitudinally grooved, smooth, irregularly marked with dark 

 red spots and dashes, and highly scented (as is indeed the 

 entire plant) with a strong anisate odor, rather too pungent to 

 be entirely pleasant. Each leaf is pinnate ; the two lower 

 pinnae being also petiolated, the two next above, sessile ; 

 while the two upper become connate with the odd leaflet 

 which terminates the leaf. Each leaflet or pinna is deeply 

 gashed or cut into ; and is subdivided many times by similar 

 incisions on the edge of each subdivision. The color is of a 

 deep, rich and dark -green above, much paler beneath, and 

 very strongly veined. At the joints and nodes of the entire 

 plant are delicate glass-like hairs, which, when immature, as 

 for instance on the young foliage, are straight, stiff", and very 

 conspicuous, but become less so, and, indeed, turn to a curled 

 appearance, or into a sort of wool or down. 



From the bosom of several of these noble leaves, one or 

 several main flower-stalks ascend, bearing modified leaves of 

 the same general character, but towards the top having at 

 their bases ochrece or sheaths, forming the involucral invest- 

 ment of the unexpanded umbel. As the main umbel ex- 

 pands, several partial ones are extended from beneath the 

 uppermost, which give a succession of flowers after the head 

 has passed out of blossom. Each blossom consists of five 

 white petals, two of which are longer than the other three, 

 and are divided into two very unequal lobes. The stamens 

 are five in number, and the styles are two, all situated about 

 a disk, which crowns the seed vessel. This httle blossom, it 

 is to be observed, is pedicillate, and is clustered, with several 

 others, into a partial umbel, which umbel is again supported 

 on another longer and larger pedicel, as is the character, in- 

 deed, with the generality of the umbelliferous plants. The 

 heads of blossoms of these flowers will measure across from 

 one to two feet, and become by mere aggregation very showy. 



Notwithstanding its strongly aromatic scent, the plant is 

 freely visited by numerous sorts of insects, such as bees, flies, 

 cantharis, &c. ; though I have noticed no special injury that 



