264 THE AHALIA TAMTLT. 



XXXVII. SraVRMIUIVI. SMYRNIUM. 



Leaves entire or dissected. Umbels compound, either without involu- 

 cres or only a very few small bracts. Flowers yellow. Fruit 2-lobed ; the 

 carpels ovoid, attached by the very narrow face, each with 3 prominent, 

 angular ribs, and several vittas under the interstices. Albumen with a lon- 

 gitudinal furrow on the inner face. 



A genus of very few species, from the Mediterranean region and western 

 Asia. 



1. Conatnon Smyrnium. Smyrnium Olusatrum, Liun. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 230. Alexanders.) 



A coarse, erect annual or biennial, 2 to 4 feet high, and nearly glabrous. 

 Lower leaves twice or tlirice, upper ones but once ternate ; the segments 

 broadly ovate, coarsely toothed or 3-lobed, 2 or more inches long and broad, 

 and often of a yellowish green. Umbels terminal, of 8 to 12 rays. Flowers 

 of a greenish yellow, much crowded in the partial umbels. As the fruit 

 ripens, the peduncles are often much thickened under the umbels. Carpels 

 above 3 lines long, very angular. 



In meadows and waste places, especially near the sea, aU round the Me- 

 diterranean and up western Europe to the English Channel. Probably 

 really indigenous in several of the maritime counties of southern England 

 and Ireland, and, having been formerly much cultivated, has spread into 

 many inland parts of England and southern Scotland, in the ricinity of old 

 castles and gardens. Fl. spring and early summer. 



XXXVIII. COItlANDSR. CORIANDRUM. 



!Fruit globular, not readily separating into the two carpels, crowned by 

 the conspicuous teeth of the calyx, the ribs scarcely prominent, and no 

 vittas. 



A single species, very distinct in the form of the fruit. 



1. Conuuon Coriander. Coriandrum sativum, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 67.) 



An erect, branching, glabrous annual, 1 to 1| feet high, emitting a very 

 disagreeable smeU when rubbed. Lowest leaves once or twice pinnate, with 

 broadly-ovate or cuneate, deeply-cut segments ; the others more divided, 

 with linear segments, few and slender m the iippermost. Umbels terminal, 

 rather small, of 5 to 8 rays, without general involucre, and only a few small 

 slender bracts to the partial ones. Flowers white, the outer petals larger. 

 Fruits about 2 hues long. 



A native of the Levant, long since cultivated in Europe, and occasionally 

 spreading as a weed of cultivation. Said to be established as such in some 

 of the eastern counties of England. Fl. summer. 



XXXV. THE ARALIA FAMILY. AEALIACE^. 

 Shrubs, trees, or climbers, rarely herbs, differing from Um- 



