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FENNEL. 56 



reader to fling all these technical terms at him at once, but in 

 truth there is no help for it. If he wishes to become acquainted 

 with the extensive order of Umbelliferous plants he must 

 constantly use these terms, for the fruits play an important 

 part in distinguishing umbellifers of various genera. 



The mericarps in Fennel are half-round, and marked on the 

 outside with five ridges, which mark the lines of union of the 

 sepals (which are adherent to the carpels) and the central 

 keels of the sepals. Between these ridges are tubes (vittce) 

 containing essential-oil, and it is to their presence that fruits of 

 this order owe their aromatic qualities. 



The Round-leaved Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia). 



The Sundews, of which we have three native species, must 

 be sought out, for they seldom obtrude themselves on the 

 attention of those whose eyes have not been trained to see 

 them. They must be looked for in peat bogs, and in hollows 

 on sandy heaths, where they grow in crowds. The leaves of 

 D. rotundifolia arise from a slender rootstock, and lie on the 

 ground in the form of a rosette, from the centre of which the 

 tall slender flower-stalks appear in July and August. Each 

 leaf bears near the upper margins several rows of long crimson 

 glands, terminating in rounded heads, and reminding one of a 

 sea-anemone's tentacles ; indeed, they serve a similar purpose. 

 These glands secrete a clear sticky fluid, which serves .to detain 

 small insects that crawl over the leaf. Their efforts to free 

 themselves irritate the glands, which all bend over to the 

 insect ; at the same time the margins of the leaf-blade begin to 

 become incurved, and the insect is effectually secured in the 

 hollow, ultimately being digested and the soft parts assimilated 

 by the plant. Readers desiring to learn more of these curious 

 habits of the plant are advised to grow it in a saucer of peat, and 

 to read Mr. Darwin's celebrated work on "Insectivorous Plants," 



