258 THE tjMbellate family. 



1. Needle Scandix. Scandix Pecten, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 1397. Shepherd' s-needle or Venus' s-comh.) 



A branching annual, erect or spreading, 6 inches to a foot high, and more 

 or less hairy. Leaves twice or thrice pinnate, with short segments cut into 

 narrow lobes. Umbels terminal, of 2 or 3 rays, without general involucres; 

 partial involucres of several lanceolate bracts, often 2- or 3-lobed at the top. 

 Flowers almost sessile, small and white, with a few large outer petals. 

 Truits attaining near 2 inclies ; the carpels at the base cyhndrical and ribbed, 

 4 or 5 lines long, the remainder occupied by a stiff, flattened beak, often 

 compared to the tooth of a comb. 



In fields and waste places, tlu-oughout Europe and west-central Asia. 

 Frequent as a cornfield weed in England, Ireland, and the south of Scot- 

 land, but decreasing further northward. J7. with the corn. 



XXX. CICELV. MYERHIS. 



Leaves dissected. Umbels compound, with partial involucres of several 

 bracts, and white flowers. Fruit narrow- oblong, not beaked. Carpels 

 with 5 very prominent, acute ribs, which are hollow inside, and no vittas. 

 Albumen of the seed with a deep longitudinal ftuTOw on the imier face. 



A single species, scarcely distinct as a geirus from Chervil. 



1. Svireet Cicely. Myrrhis odorata, Scop. 

 (Scandix, Eng. Bot. t. 697.) 



An erect, branching, hairy perennial, 2 to 3 feet high, with the foliage and 

 habit of a Chervil, and liigidy aromatic. Leaves large, thin, twice or tliree 

 tunes pinnate, with numerous lanceolate segments, deeply pinnatifid and 

 toothed. Umbels tei-minal, not large, with seldom more tlian 8 or 10 rays, 

 and of these but few ripen their fruits. Ko general involucre ; bracts of 

 the partial ones lanceolate, tliiu, whitish, with fine points. Fruits when 

 ripe 6 or 7 Unes to near an inch long ; the very prominent ribs occasionally 

 rough with minute hairs. 



A native of mountain pastures, in central and southern Europe, fi'om the 

 Pyrenees to the Caucasus. Of ancient cultivation in more northern Eu- 

 rope, it has frequently established itself in the neighbourhood of cottages. 

 In Britain, beheved by some to be truly indigenous in the hilly districts of 

 northei'n England, where, at any rate, it is perfectly naturalized. Fl. spring 

 Qiid early sumnier. 



XXXI. BUNIUM. BUNIUM. 



Leaves dissected. Umbels compound, either without involucres or with 

 vei-y few small bracts, and white flowers. Fruit oval, oblong, somewhat 

 laterally compressed, shortly contracted at the top, with erect or sUghtly 

 spreading styles. Carpels with 5 scarcely perceptible ribs, and several very 

 slender vittas under the interstices. Albumen of the seed with a longitudinal 

 furrow on the inner face. 



A genus of few species, chiefly from the Meditei-ranean region, with the 

 habit of the tuberous Carums, but with a fruit more nearly allied to that of 

 some Chervils, although shorter. 



