MYRRHIS.] UMBELLIFER^. 175 



solitary, slender, or 0. Seed concave or deeply grooved ventrally. 

 DISTRIB. Mts. of Europe and temp. S. America ; species 2. ETYM. 

 The old Greek name. 



M. odora'ta, Scop. ; leaves whitish, beneath, bracteoles lanceolate. 

 Pastures, usually near houses, from S. Wales and Lincoln to Caithness ; 

 ascends to 1,200 ft. in Derby ; not indigenous in Ireland ; (a denizen or 

 alien, Wats.) ; fl. May-June. Sparingly and finely hairy. Root fleshy, 

 fusiform. Stem 2-3 ft., leafy, terete, fistular, grooved, branched above. 

 Leaves deltoid, 3-pinnate ; leaflets pinnatifid, lobes serrate ; sheaths large. 

 Umbels terminal; bracteoles membranous, awned. Flowers small, outer 

 only fertile, latest male only. Fruit f-1 in., linear, dark brown, ridges 

 often scabrid; styles very slender, diverging. DISTRIB. From France 

 southd. and eastd. to Caucasus. Aromatic and stimulant ; once cultivated 

 as a pot-herb, still used in salads in Italy. 



18. SCAN'DIX, L. SHEPHERD'S NEEDLE. 



Annuals. Leaves pinnately decompound ; segments small. Umbels 

 simple or compound ; bracts 1 or ; bracteoles entire or cut ; flowers 

 white, polygamous, outer often radiating. Calyx-teeth minute or 0. 

 Petals often unequal, point short inflexed or 0. Disk dilated, undulated. 

 Fruit slender, subcylindric, produced into a long beak, carpophore un- 

 divided or 2 -fid ; carpels subterete, primary ridges broad or filiform, 

 secondary ; vittte solitary in the furrows, often obscure. Seed deeply 

 furrowed ventrally. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Africa, temp. Asia; species 8 

 or 10. ETYM. The Greek name for a Chervil. 



S. Pecten-Ven'eris, L. ; fruit ciliate rough dorsally compressed. 

 A cornfield weed from Caithness southd. ; ascends to 1,000 ft. in Yorkshire ; 

 Ireland ; Channel Islands ; (a colonist, Wats.} ; fl. June-Sept. Branched 

 from the base, pubescent with spreading hairs, branches 6-18 in., rarely more. 

 Leaves oblong, 2-3-pinnate, segments very slender. Umbels terminal and 

 lateral ; rays 1-2 ; bracteoles many, green, sometimes leafy at the point. 

 Flowers very irregular. Fruit 1-3 in., very slender, scabrid ; styles very 

 short. DISTRIB. Europe, N. Africa, W. Asia to N.W. India. 



19. CHJEROPHYL'LUM, L. CHERVIL. 



Herbs, often hairy. Leaves pinnately, rarely 3-nately decompound. 

 Umbels compound, many-rayed ; bracts 1-2 or ; bracteoles many ; 

 flowers white, rarely yellow, often polygamous. Calyx-teeth subulate 

 or 0. Petals with a long or short inflexed point. Disk-lobes small. Fruit 

 oblong or linear, not beaked, laterally compressed, commissure con- 

 stricted, carpophore undivided or 2-fid ; carpels subterete, primary ridges 

 equal obtuse ; vitta3 solitary in the furrows. Seed deeply grooved ventrally. 

 DISTEIB. N. temp, regions, species 30. ETYM. x a ' l P M an( i <^AAoi/, from 

 the agreeable odour of the leaf. 



C. tem'ulum, L. ; stem swollen below the nodes purple-spotted, 

 fruit glabrous, bracteoles reflexed. C. temulentum, Sm. 



