I2 4 SUMMER 



disc is completed by short and long stems, each lifting a 

 flower-cluster into the nearest vacant place. But the nether 

 structure of the disc of elder or water-guelder is feeble com- 

 pared with a compound umbel ; and the nodding flowers 

 would miss much light and sunshine if they shot on low 

 annual stems like the hemlock instead of being lifted above 

 most of the competition of the hedgerow on the boughs of 

 flowering shrubs. The discs of whitebeam and mountain- 

 ash are slightly different again in internal structure, and a 

 step further from the perfect umbel. Instead of all the 

 flowers being borne on subsidiary stems, however irregular, 

 as in the elder disc, in this family some are carried on the 

 tips of the main stems, which have not learnt that their duty 

 is to delegate the responsibility of flowering, and confine 

 themselves to giving support. This form of blossom is called 

 a corymb, and in the discs of the whitebeam and rowan we 

 see it on the point of developing into a cyme. 



The umbellifers extort admiration rather for the perfec- 

 tion of their structure than for beauty or serviceableness in 

 a wild state. On the whole they rank as weeds, while some 

 are highly poisonous. But the cow-parsley in mass forms 

 one of the most distinctive charms of spring, and is eaten 

 by animals without harm. So is the stout leafy cow- 

 parsnip, which swells its gouty pink flower-stems under the 

 trampled shadow of the elms in the July pastures. Hemlock 

 and water-hemlock or cow-bane are the most dangerous mem- 

 bers of their tribe. The spotted stems of hemlock distinguish 

 it clearly from cow-parsley, while water-hemlock grows by 

 running water, and is conspicuously the tallest of its family. 

 Much in the same way as the potato is a relative of the 

 deadly nightshade, the garden parsnip and carrot are both 

 members of the umbelliferous tribe, as a glance at their flowers 

 will show. The wild original of the carrot is very common 

 among the dry turf of cliffs and downs ; as the flower fades 



