CHAPTER IX. 

 THE UMBELLIFERJE. 



EXERCISE III. 

 Structure of its Flowers and Fruit. 



THE plants of this family blossom in umbels. An 

 umbel, with its pedicels all starting from one point, 

 like the rays of an umbrella, is a feature of plants so 

 striking that it has naturally given its name to the 

 group that bears it. But, as you saw that a plant 

 blossoming in a head did not necessarily belong to 

 the composite, so you are now to find that all umbel- 

 bearing plants are not, therefore, placed among um- 

 belliferse. It has been found that certain plants blos- 

 soming in umbels are alike in many other respects, 

 and are at the same time unlike all other plants in 

 the structure of their flowers, and particularly of 

 their fruit. These umbelliferous plants constitute 

 the family we are about to examine. 



They are " natives chiefly of the northern parts 

 of the northern hemisphere, inhabiting groves, thick- 

 ets, plains, marshes, and waste places. They appear 

 to be extremely rare in all tropical countries except 

 at considerable elevations, where they gradually in- 

 crease in number, as the other parts of the vegetation 

 acquire an extra-tropical or mountain character." 



At the outset let me warn you that this is an or- 

 der of plants to be suspected. Though some of its 

 species are excellent food, yet some, when eaten, are 



