90 ORIGIN OF CULTIVATED PLANTS. 



It is spoken of in the Odyssey under the name of 

 selinon, and in Theophrastus ; but later, Dioscorides and 

 Pliny ^ distinguish between the wild and cultivated 

 celery. In the latter the leaves are blanched, which 

 greatly diminishes their bitterness. The long course of 

 cultivation explains the numerous garden varieties. The 

 one which ditiers more widely fium the wild plant is that 

 of which the fleshy root is eaten cooked. 



Chervil — Scandix cerefolium, Linnaeus; Anthriscus 

 cerefolium, Hoffmann. 



Not long ago the origin of this little Umbellifer, so com- 

 mon in our gardens, was unknown. Like many annuals, 

 it sprang up on rubbish-heaps, in hedges, in waste 

 places, and it was doubted whether it should be con- 

 sidered wild. In the west and south of Europe it seems 

 to have been introduced, and more or less naturalized ; 

 but in the south-east of Russia and in western temperate 

 Asia it appears to be indigenous. Steven ^ tells us that 

 it is found "here and there in the woods of the Crimea." 

 Boissier ^ received several specimens from the provinces 

 to the south of the Caucasus, from Turcomania and the 

 mountains of the north of Persia, localities of which the 

 species is probably a native. It is wanting in the floras 

 of India and the east of Asia. 



Greek authors do not mention it. The first mention 

 of the plant by ancient writers occurs in Columella and 

 Pliny,* that is, at the beginning of the Christian era. 

 It was then cultivated. Pliny calls it cerefolium. The 

 species was probably introduced into the Greco-Roman 

 world after the time of Theophrastus, that is in the 

 course of the three centuries which preceded our era. 



Parsley — Petroselinuni sativum, Moench. 



This bienniarUmbellifer is wild in the south of Europe, 

 from Spain to Turkey. It has also been found at 

 Tlemcen in Algeria, and in Lebanon.^ 



' Dioscorides, Mat. Med., \. 3, c. 67, 68 ; Pliny, Hist., L 19, c. 7, 8 ; 



Lenz, Bot. der Alien Griechen und Rd)ner, p. 557. 



2 Steven, Verzeichniss Taurischen Halbinseln, p. 183. 



• Boissier, Fl. Orient, ii. p. 913. 



• Lenz, Bot. d. Alt. Gr. und R., p. 572. 



• Munbj, Catal. Alger., edit. 2, p. 22 ; Boissier, Fl. Orient., ii. p. 857. 



