Pastinaca. UMBELLIFERiE. 279 



Root biennial, fleshy. Stem 3-6 feet high, smooth, strongly sulcata. Leaves somewhat 

 shining ; the segments sessile, 3-8 pairs. Umbels large and flat. Fruit about one-third 

 of an inch long, broadly oval, the border a little thickened : ribs very slender and slightly 

 prominent. 



Fields and waste grounds ; very common. July - October. Introduced, and now com- 

 pletely naturalized in many places. In the wild slate, the root is hard and unfit for food. 



16. HERACLEUM. Linn. ; Endl. gen. Ai77. COW PARSNEP. 



[ Named after liircuks, who is said to have brought this plant into use.] 



Calyx-teeth distinct, or sometimes obsolete. Petals obcordate, with an inflexed point ; in the 

 exterior flowers often radiate, and apparently 2-cleft. Fruit much compressed on the back, 

 with a broad flat margin : ribs slender ; 3 of them dorsal and equidistant ; the 2 lateral 

 ones remote, and contiguous to the dilated margin. Viltaj mostly clavate, shorter than the 

 Iruit ; one in each interval, and usually 2 in the commissure. Seed flat. — Stout herbaceous 

 plants, with pinnately or ternalcly divided or lobcd leaves : petiole large and sheathing. 

 Umbels with numerous rays. Involucre caducous, mostly few-leaved. Involucels many- 

 leaved. 



1. Heracleum lanatum, Michx. American Cotv Parsnej). 



Stem sulcate, pubescent ; leaves ternately divided, woolly-pubescent underneath ; the 

 segments pcliolulate, roundish-cordate, somewhat palmatcly lobed ; fruit oval or obovate. — 

 Michx. fl. 1. p. 166 ; Pursh, Jl. 1. p. 181 ; Bigel. fl. Bost p. 110 ; Ton: fl. 1. p. 313 ; 

 DC. prodr. 4. p. 192 ; Hook. Jl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 270 ; Beck, hot. p. 149 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. 

 p. 196 ; Torr. ^- Gr. fl. N. Am. 1. p. 632. 



Stem 4-8 feet high, and^l - 2 inches in diameter at the base. Leaves with 3 primary 

 divisions, each on a footstalk 2-6 inches in length ; the divisions 3 - 5-lobcd and incisely 

 serrate, often 6-8 inches in diameter : common petiole much inflated and membranaceous. 

 Umbels very large, spreading. Involucre of 6 - 10 oblong-lanceolate caducous leaflets. 

 Leaflets of the involucels tapering to a long point. Flowers white : petals of the exterior 

 ones appearing deeply and often very unequally 2-lobed, with a short inflexed point between 

 the lobes. Fruit nearly half an inch long, emarginate. Vitta; clavate, extending about half 

 way down the carpels. 



Wet meadows and river banks. Fl. Ma}^ - June. Fr. July - August. A strong-smelling 

 plant, called in some places Master-tuort. The root is stimulant and carminative. See Wood 

 4- Bache's U. S. Disp. p. 86. 



