252 UMBELLIFER.E. Mollmjo. 



the lobes more or less purple : stamens many. — Eolirbacli in Mart. Fl. Bras. xiv^. 

 310, t. 70. 



A very variable species, widely distributed around the globe. It has been collected near Fort 

 Mohave {Cooper), and is frequent in saline or alkaline valleys through the interior from N. Nevada 

 to Colorado and New Mexico, often with much broader leaves than is usual in the sea-coast forms. 



3. MOLLUGO, Linn. Cakpet-weed. 

 Calyx 5-cleft nearly to the base ; the lobes herbaceous, membranously margined. 

 Petals none. Stamens 3 or 5, rarely twice as many, hypogynous. Styles 3. Cap- 

 sule free, thin-membranaceous, 3 - 5-celled, loculicidally 3 - 5-valved, the partitions 

 breaking aAvay from the persistent central placenta. Seeds several in each cell, 

 longitudinally sulcate on the back. — Annuals, low and much branched, glabrous, 

 not succulent ; leaves linear to obovate-spatulate, entire, opposite and apparently 

 verticillate ; stipules obsolete ; flowers mostly on long pedicels and axillary. 



About a dozen species in the warmer regions of the globe. The following is the only one in- 

 digenous to N. America. 



1. M. verticillata, Linn. Prostrate, covering the ground, slender : leaves spat- 

 ulate to lineal-. )l>lauceolate, an inch long or less: pedicels umbellately fascicled at 

 the nodes, slender, 2 or 3 lines long : sepals and oblong-ovoid capsule al^out 1 1 lines 

 long : seeds reniform, shining. — - liohrbach, 1. c. 240, t. 55. 



On light sandy soils from tlie Columbia River southward ; at Eagle Creek, near Sliasta, and 

 at McCumber's Flat {Brewer, Ncwhcrnj) ; from Arizona to Colorado and New Mexico, and fre- 

 ([uent in the Atlantic States as a weed in cultivated grounds : thence southward to the AV. Indies 

 and Brazil. 



Order XLV. UMBELLIPER^. 



Herbs with small flowers in umbels (sometimes contracted into heads), Ave epi- 

 gynous stamens and petals, and two styles ; the calyx adnate to the 2-celled ovary, 

 which contains a solitary ovule suspended from the summit of each cell ; and the 

 fruit splitting into a pair of dry seed-like indehiscent carpels. Seed with a minute 

 embryo in hard albumen. Petals mostly valvate in the bud. Stem commonly 

 hollow. Leaves mainly alternate, mostly compound, often decompound : the petiole 

 expanded or sheathing at base. Umbels usually themselves umbellate, forming a 

 compound umbel : this is then usually called the umbel, and the partial umbels are 

 called umbellets. The bracts under the general umbel, when present, form an invo- 

 lucre ; those under the umbellets, an involucel. The enlarged base of the styles, or 

 the common base of the two, takes the name of stylopodium : it is often surrounded 

 by or confluent with an epigynous disk. Each of the two carpels is commonly 

 traversed by 5 longitudinal ribs : in the intervals between them are usually lodged 

 one or more longitudinal canals containing aromatic oil, the vittce or oil-tubes. The 

 face by which the two carpels cohere is the commissure : a slender prolongation of 

 the axis between them is the carpoj^hore : it is apt to split into two branches, a 

 carpel suspended for some time from the tip of each. 



A family of almost 200 genera and much above a thousand species, dispersed over all parts of 

 the world, but abundant only in warm, temperate, or cooler regions. Many are poisonous (Hem- 

 lock, Water-Hemlock, &c.) : others afford esculent roots (Parsnip, Carrot), or their herbage may 

 be eaten after blanching (Celery) ; several are innocent and aromatic (Dill, Fennel), at least the 

 fruits (Caraway, Anise, &c.). 



