552 



A TEXTBOOK OF BOTANY 



[Ch. XIII 



(Fig. 397), which form a fringe to the growing land in tropica^ 

 salt waters, belong also to this order. 



Order 24- Umbellales: the Umbellifers and kin. 

 Some 2000 species, mostly herbs, distinguished in general 



by the special- 

 ized inferior ova- 

 ries of the many 

 small flowers. 

 To the Araliacece 

 belong the Gin- 

 seng, a medicinal 

 plant, the Eng- 

 lish Ivy, and 

 some spiny gar- 

 den shrubs (Ar ci- 

 lia). In the 

 Umbelliferce, or 

 Parsley Family, 

 with their char- 

 acteristic simple 

 or compound 

 umbels of small 

 flowers (Fig. 

 398), are some 

 food plants 

 (Carrot), and 

 many which are 

 medicinal and 

 poisonous, in- 

 cluding the clas- 

 sic Poison Hem- 

 lock, for which 

 our Hemlock 

 tree was named on account of a fancied resemblance in 

 the foliage. Here belong also the Dogwoods (Cornacece) 



Fig. 397. — A thicket of Mangroves (Rhizophora 

 mangle) bordering salt water. 



The characteristic aerial roots are prominent ; and 

 on the branches are the "viviparous" embryos, i.e. 

 they put forth their long hypocotyls while still in 

 the fruits. (From Kerner.) 



