UMBELLIFER^E 113 



ECHINOPHORA L. 



E. Spinpsa L. Plant 1-2 ft. high, glaucous, robust, prickly. 'Leaves pin- 

 natisect or pinnatifid, segments fleshy, stiff, spiny. Umbels of 5-8 short unequal 

 rays. Stem thick, angular. Flowers white. 



Maritime sands, common. July-October. 



CON1UM L. 



C. maculatum L. Hemlock. Stems 2-5 ft., spotted purple, stout, furrowed, 

 leafy. Leaves very large, deltoid, finely 2-pinnate, segments pinnatifid, flaccid. 

 Umbels shortly peduncled ; rays 10-20. Female flowers open after the males 

 which are smaller. Fruit greenish-brown. Poisonous. 



Waste places and road-sides, uncommon. May- August. 



SMYRNIUM L. 



S. Olusatrum L. Alexanders. Stem 1-3 ft., solid, furrowed, panicled. 

 Root biennial. Stem-leaves petioled, 3-foliolate, serrate, shining. Petioles large, 

 sheathing, margins hairy. Leaflets broadly obovate, obtusely serrate or lobed. 

 Umbels subglobose, rays very variable. Fruit ^ in. dark brown ; ridges variable. 

 Flowers yellow. 



Waste places, hedges, etc., sometimes in abundance, as e.g. in the Avenue du 

 Cenituron, Hyeres. February-May. 



S. perfoliatum Mill, is sometimes seen in sandy woods, etc. April-June. 

 Its stem-leaves are suborbicular cordate, embracing the stem, and with crenate 

 margin. 



BUPLEURUM L. 



* Partial involucre with ovate or ovate-lanceolate bracteoles. 



B. rotundifolium L. Hare's-ear. Annual, 10-18 in. high, erect glaucous, 

 stem hollow. Lower leaves oblong, upper ones broadly ovate or suborbicular, 

 apiculate, perfoliate. Involucre o ; partial involucre of 3-5 broadly ovate, 

 yellowish, leafy, bracteoles, longer than the many short rays, connate at base. 

 Flowers yellow. 



Dry fields. June-August. Less common than the next species. 



" B. protractum Lk. et Hoffm. = B. subovatum Lk. Leaves ovate- 

 oblong, narrower than the last, perfoliate. Umbels 2-3 rayed. Bracts of general 

 involucre o. Partial involucre of 3-5 bracteoles, widely spreading. Stems 

 i-2^ft. Flowers yellow. Annual. 



Fields and crops, common on the littoral. May-July. 



B. ranunculoides L. Very polymorphic. Except in the higher mountains 

 only the var. telonense Gren. is found in the Var. Stem-leaves ovate- 

 lanceolate. Umbels 4-12 rayed; involucre of 2-4 bracts; partial involucre of 

 5-6 spreading bracteoles. Flowers yellow. The type is found in the sub-Alpine 

 and mountain region of Alpes-Marit. and the variety on the top of Mont Faron, 

 near Toulon, and elsewhere in the Var. June-August. 



B. opacum Willk. et Lge. = B. aristatum G.G. Annual, glaucous. 

 Leaves half amplexicaul, linear-lanceolate, acute. Umbels dense, terminal, of 

 2-5 short unequal rays. Involucral bracts broadly lanceolate, cuspidate, longer 

 than the rays. Partial involucral bracteoles shorter, membranous, aristate. 



Dry, hilly places in the Var. May-July. 



B. fruticosum L. Under-shrub 3-6 ft. high, with leafy branches. Leaves 

 leathery, persistent, oblong, mucronate, sessile and narrowed at the base. 

 Umbels of 8-20 equal rays. Involucre and partial involucres of lanceolate, 

 deflexed bracts, falling at maturity. Fruit oblong, with prominent acute ridges. 



Limestone rocks near the top of Mont Faron near Toulon. June-August. 

 It also grows on the steep slope near the road in ascending Sainte-Baume from 

 Ge'menos, just outside the boundary of the Department of the Var. 



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