THE UMBELLIFER&. 



155 



species, all blossoming in umbels, and named from this 

 circumstance, and yet distinguished from the rest of the 

 vegetable kingdom by quite other characters than the in- 

 florescence. If your notion of the order were founded on 

 its name, or upon the general aspect of a few familiar spe- 

 cies known to belong to it, you would most likely pro- 

 nounce an elder-bush an umbelliferous plant. " You would 

 find a large umbel, a small umbel, little, white blossoms, 



FIG. 436. 



FIG. 437. 



an inferior ovary, and five stamens. Yes, it must be an 

 umbelliferous plant But look again : suppose you study 

 a flower. In the first place, instead of five distinct petals, 

 you find a corolla, with five divisions, it is true, but, never- 

 theless, with all five joined into one piece ; now, the flow- 

 ers of umbelliferous plants are not so constructed. Here, 

 indeed, are five stamens, but you see no styles ; you see 

 three stigmas more often than two, and three grains more 

 often than two ; but umbelliferous plants have never either 

 more or less than two stigmas, nor more or less than two 

 grains to each flower. Besides, the fruit of the elder is a 

 juicy berry, while that of umbelliferous plants is dry and 

 hard. The elder, therefore, is not an umbelliferous plant. 

 If you now go back a little, and look more attentively at 

 the way the flowers are disposed, you will also find their 



