COW-PARSNIP 



looking at one of the foliage-leaves in more detail we find that the 

 sheath is a wide concave structure of uniform thickness, which 

 joins the stem by an extended base. The lower or outer surface 

 is coarsely hairy, and is ribbed over the numerous vascular bundles; 

 the inner surface is smooth. The transition from sheath to leaf- 

 stalk is a sudden one. 

 The latter is strongly 

 convex below, while 

 on the upper surface 

 it has a well-marked 

 groove bounded by 

 two marginal ridges. 

 The leaf - stalk bears 

 two or more pairs of 

 pinnae, and ends in a 

 large terminal leaflet 

 resembling in general 

 form the lateral pinnae. 

 Each of these is dark 

 green above, lighter 

 below, and hairy on 

 both surfaces. The 

 toothed margin is 

 deeply cut into lobes, 

 but the divisions do 

 not extend to the 

 midrib. The midrib 

 projects strongly be- 

 low, and from it main 

 branches run out to 

 the lobes, the intervening thin parts of the blade being supplied 

 by a finer network of veins. 



The main stem ends in an inflorescence, and the branches, 

 which stand in the axils of the upper leaves, similarly bear in- 

 florescences, so that the plant is in flower for a considerable period. 

 The stalk of the inflorescence is similar to the ribbed stem, but 

 more slender. The inflorescence itself is of a peculiar and char- 

 acteristic type found in all the relations of the Cow-Parsnip. It 



FIG. i. Shoot of the Cow-Parsnip bearing several 

 umbels. (After Baillon.) 



