CLAM V. OKDER li.] CENANTHE. 373 



with three simple superficial viltw, pericarp of two coverings. Albumen 

 rounded at the bact, flat in front. 



Habitat. — Ditches, rivulets, the margins of streams and watery 

 places. Frequent in England and Ireland, but rather rare in Scotland. 



Perennial ; flowering in July and August. 



Tribe 4. Seselineje. — Koch. Fruit in a transverse section, round, 

 or roundish. Carpels with five filiform or winged ridges, the 

 lateral ones forming the margin, which are equal or a little wider 

 than the others. Albumen convex at the back, flat in front, or 

 roundish. Umbels perfect. 



GENUS LXII. (ENANTHE.— Linn. Waler Drop-wort. 



Gen. Char. Calyx margin of five teeth. Petals obcordate, with an 

 inflexed point. Fruit cylindrical, or oblong, crowned by the 

 erect styles. Carpels with five somewhat convex obtuse ridges, 

 the lateral ones rather wider than the others forming the margin. 

 Channels with single vittce. Albumen convex, or roundish. 

 General involucre various, partial of numerous segments. — 

 Named from oivw, a. vine ; and ccvoO^, a flower; alluding to the 

 vinous smell of the blossoms. 



1. OE.fistu'losa, Linn. {F\g. 436) common Water Drop-^vort. Root 

 with runners; stem cylindrical, hollow; upper leaves pinnate, with 

 hollow petioles ; leaflets linear, simple, or trifid ; the first umbels of 

 three rays, fertile, the remainder of from three to seven, abortive. 



English Botany, t. 363. — English Flora, vol. ii. p. 68. — Hooker, 

 British Flora, vol. i. p. 131. — Lindley, Synopsis, p. 119. 



Root fasciculated with long branched whorls of fibres, putting out 

 underground stems, by which the plant spreads and propagates itself. 

 Stem erect, bent at the base, from two to three feet high, round, smooth, 

 hollow, striated, branched, of a glaucous green, frequently swelled in 

 the upper part of the spaces between the joints, as if inflated. Leaves 

 alternate, dilated and sheathing at the base of the long hollow foot- 

 stalks, quite smooth, pinnate, with narrow linear simple or cleft 

 segments, the root leaves bi- or tri-pinnate, with broader segments than 

 those of the stem, which are simply pinnate, distant, and very small, 

 with a few leaflets at the top of the footstalks only. Umbels lateral 

 and terminal, various, the lower ones only are fertile, and of two or 

 three raijs, stout, short ; the upper ones of about five slender rays, 

 bearing flowers with stamens only; partial umbels of the fertile flowers 

 with short crowded rays, those of the barren longer and more slender. 

 General involucre almost always wanting, sometimes the barren umbels 



