VOL. II.] 



CARROT FAMILY. 



537 



38. SPERMOLEPIS Raf. Neog. 2. 1825. 

 [LEPTOCAUUS Nutt. ; DC. Mem. Omb. 39. 1829.] 



Glabrous slender erect branching annuals, the branches often nearly filiform, with finely 

 dissected petioled leaves the leaf-segments very narrowly linear. Flowers very small, white, 

 in compound unequal-rayed umbels. Involucre none; involucels of a few small narrow 

 bracts, or none. Calyx-teeth obsolete. Fruit ovate, laterally flattened, tuberculate or 

 bristly; ribs prominent, or obsolete; pericarp thick; oil-tubes solitary in the intervals or also 

 under the ribs, 2 on the cominissural side. Stylopodium short, conic. 



Two species, natives of the southern United States. 



Fruit tubercled. i. 5. divaricatus. 



Fruit covered with hooked bristles. 2. 5. echinatus. 



i. Spermolepis divaricatus (Walt.) Britton. 



(Fig. 2697.) 



Daucus divaricatus Walt. Fl. Car. 114. 1788. 

 Leptocaulis divaricatus DC. Mem. Omb. 39. 



pi. 10. 1829. 



Apium divaricatum Wood, Bot.& Fl. 140. 1870. 

 Spermolepis divaricatus Britton, Mem. Torr. 



Club, 5: 244. 1894. 



Similar to Apiastrum patens (fig. 2672) but 

 more slender and still more widely branch- 

 ing. Rays of the umbels almost filiform, 

 ty-iyi' long, divaricate; flowers about fe" 

 broad; pedicels filiform, 3 // -6 // long; fruit 

 ovate, densely tuberculate, l /z' f long; the 

 ribs rather prominent. 



Kansas to Texas, North Carolina and Florida. 

 Also in ballast at Philadelphia. April-May. 



Rough-fruited Spermolepis. 



2. Spermolepis echinatus 



(Nutt. ) Britton. Bristly-fruited 



Spermolepis. (Fig. 2698.) 



Leptocaulis echinatus Nutt.; DC. Prodr. 4: 



107. 1830. 

 Apium echinatum S. Wats. Bibl. Index, i: 



412. 1878. 



Resembling the preceding species, but 

 lower, seldom over i high, the branches 

 ascending or sometimes spreading. Rays 

 of the umbel very slender, i l /z f long, or 

 less; fruit about %" long, covered with 

 spreading hooked bristles, the ribs obso- 

 lete, the commissure narrow. 



Alabama to Missouri, Texas and Califor- 

 nia. April-May. 



39. PTILIMNIUM Raf. Neog. 2. 1825. 

 [DISCOPLEURA DC. Mem. Omb. 38. 1829.] 



Annual erect glabrous branching herbs, with pinnately or ternately dissected leaves, and 

 compound umbels of white flowers. Bracts of the involucre several, filiform or dissected 

 in our species. Calyx-teeth obsolete. Petals obovate, the apex inflexed. Stylopodium 

 conic; fruit ovate, slightly compressed, glabrous. Carpels dorsally compressed, the dorsal 

 and intermediate ribs prominent, slender, the lateral ones very thick and corky; oil-tubes 

 solitary in the intervals. Seed-face flat. [Greek, referring to the finely divided leaves.] 



About 4 species. Besides the following, another occurs in Texas and one in the East Indies. 

 Involucral bracts mostly pinnate; fruit i"-i l A" long. i. P. capillaceum. 



Involucral bracts short, entire; fruit H"-K" long. 2. P. Nuttallii. 



