CMBELLIFER.E 21 



also conform closely to this peculiar outline, as is best seen in 

 transverse section. This type is well illustrated by Scandix 

 Pecten-Veneris. The fruit is prolonged at the apex into a 

 long, slender, tapering or subtapering beak ; the portion con- 

 taining the seed is linear-oblong. The embryo is slender and 

 rather elongated. Myrrhis odorata differs in having a larger 

 fruit with a shorter beak, the primary ridges prominent and 

 acute ; and the embryo seems to be situated near one edge of 

 the seed. The dorsal and lateral ridges of Cuminum Cyminum 

 are the most prominent, while the intermediate ones are small, 

 making the mericarps triangular in transverse outline. The 

 ventral face of mericarp and seed are but slightly grooved ; and 

 the embryo is axial. On the other hand, the mericarps of 

 Caucalis nodosa are much infolded at the sides and deeply 

 grooved on the ventral face. The fruits are chiefly re- 

 markable for their dimorphic character. Those on the cir- 

 cumference of the umbel have the outer or most exposed 

 mericarp furnished with a double row of spreading, curved, 

 and hooked bristles on each of the secondary ridges, while the 

 corresponding more protected centripetal carpel as well as 

 all the rest of the fruits are only muricate on the secondary 

 ridges. 



The fifth group includes those fruits which are involute 

 not merely at the sides but also at either end, forming a deep 

 cavity on the ventral aspect in each of the two mericarps. 

 This is strongly suggestive of what occurs in Galium amongst 

 the Rubiaceae. The fruit is didyrnous, and each mericarp is 

 somewhat globular in Smyrnium perfoliatum. The embryo is 

 axial as usual, but owing to its shortness and to the curvature 

 of the seed it is horizontal with its radicle close to the sub- 

 lateral micropyle. It is straight or slightly curved and of 

 comparatively large size ; and during germination or growth 

 previous to germination it must become considerably curved 

 in order to accommodate itself to the peculiar shape of the 

 seed. A very exceptional case occurs in Trachymene pilosa 

 (fig. 406). The fruit is laterally very much compressed, with 

 the commissure of the mericarps correspondingly narrow. 

 The most striking feature of the seeds, which conform to 

 the shape of the mericarps, is that the embryo has the edges 



