WATER DEOPWOBT. 133 



land that I have visited. Pigs grub for the nut-shaped root, 

 and boys are equally alive to its charms. There was a paper 

 in the Gardeners' Chronicle some years ago recommending the 

 cultivation of this plant, because of the edible properties of the 

 roots, which, when roasted, are as good as Chestnuts. The 

 leaves resemble those of the Fennel, and the umbels are 

 tolerably large. It is the earliest of Umbellifers in flowering, 

 opening its white blossoms early in May. 



The Water Dropworts are a remarkable family, some un- 

 wholesome, some actually poisonous. 



The Tubular Water Dropwort (CEnanthe fistulosa), is really 

 handsome, with thick hollow stems, and pinnate tubular leaves. 

 It is a tall plant, upright, and with spare foliage of a glaucous 

 hue. The general umbel has three or four branches, but the 

 partial umbels are large, so that the cluster is a good size. 

 The flowers are prettily tinged with pink. 



The Parsley Water Dropwort is in every way a smaller, slighter 

 plant, and its umbel has more rays. The two grow together 

 in ditches, on Kenn Moor, near Clevedon, flowering in July. 



The most harmful member of the family is the Hemlock 

 Water Dropwort (CE. crocata), and it grows luxuriantly in 

 ditches and watery places in the beautiful lanes and groves 

 of Kent. The Hemlock Water Dropwort is the stateliest 

 plant of the tribe, as far as my experience goes. Its foliage- 

 is formed of large leaves, combining numerous wedge-shaped 

 leaflets ; it is of a bright, glossy green, and surmounted with 

 the large white hemispherical umbels, it cannot fail to attract 

 attention, Its root is composed of fleshy knobs, each some- 

 what resembling the root of a Parsnip, and the whole plant 

 abounds in a bad-smelling yellow juice. The farmers told 

 Edward that it had killed horses, and seriously disordered 

 cows. The principal danger, they said, is in the early spring, 

 when the cattle are first turned into the pastures. They are 

 then so new-fangled with every green thing that they eat the 

 Hemlock Dropwort eagerly. Its shoots being then young are 



