176 DICOTYLEDONS SOLANACEJE DIAGRAM 13 



The carrot grows in Britain in a wild state, but the root is not 

 so large, nor red as it becomes when cultivated. The leaves of 

 the carrot are compound, with a great many divisions. The stalk 

 of the carrot, like that of other umbelliferse, dies every year when 

 the seeds are ripe ; but the root still lives, and throws up a new 

 stalk in the following year. Each flower,, as in all umbelliferse, 

 bears two seeds ; those of the anise and caraway are very aromatic. 

 On the contrary, in the parsley, chervil, and angelica, it is the 

 leaves and stalks which are valued for their flavour. 



Poisonous umbelliferse may generally be known by the dis- 

 agreeable smell which is perceived on rubbing one of their leaves 

 in the hands. The hemlock is a large plant with reddish spots on 

 the stem. The fools', parsley is much commoner, and care must 

 be taken not to mistake it for the real parsley. It may always 

 be known by the shape of the leaf frill at the base of the last 

 stalks which support the flowers. This frill is composed of three 

 leaves as narrow as threads, which are drooping, and all three 

 placed together on the same side of the stalk. 



FAMILY SOLANACE.E. 



The family of the Solanacere, like that of the umbelliferse 

 includes at once plants which are among the most useful to man, 

 as the egg-plant, the tobacco, the tomata, the potato and the 

 capsicum ; as well as the most poisonous plants, such as the night- 

 shades and the thorn-apple. It is true that some of these are of 

 great service in the hands of physicians, and then become useful 

 plants. The Solanacese sometimes grow to small trees. Their 

 flowers differ considerably; from that of the potato, which is wheel- 

 shaped, to that of tobacco, which is bell-shaped. But the calyx is 



