PENTANDRIA— DIGYNIA. Meum. 85 



In Westmoreland, the north of Yorkshire, and Merionethshire. 

 Raij. In Lancashire 3 and abundantly in the Highlands of Scot- 

 land. 



Perennial. May, June. 



Root thick and woody, crowned with the fibrous remains of old 

 footstalks. Stems erect, from 1 to 2 feet high, round, hollow, 

 leafy, striated, not much branched. Leaves oblong, doubly pin- 

 nate, dark green, smooth ; Icciflets opposite, in numerous, ca- 

 pillary, very delicate, pointed segments. Footstalks dilated and 

 membranous at the base. Umbels erect, of numerous general 

 and partial rays. General bracteas few, linear or lanceolate, 

 mostly three-cleft, often wanting ; partial more numerous, either 

 entire or cut. Fl. numerous, yellow ish-\\hite, occasionally red- 

 dish. Petals sometimes inversely heart-shaped, but slightly. 

 Fruit l-4th of an inch long, somewhat curved, smooth. 



The whole plant, and especially the root, is highly aromatic, with 

 a flavour like Melilot, which it communicates to milk and butter, 

 from the cows feeding upon its herbage, in spring. A strong 

 infusion of this herb is said to give cheese the taste and odour 

 of the Swiss Chapziegar. See Engl. Bot. 



This plant, concerning whose genus botanists have been so various 

 and uncertain, was thought by Tournefort very nearly akin to 

 his Fceniculum, which comprises, among many other things, our 

 common, or sweet. Fennel. The presence of bracteas forms the 

 chief objection, as to habit 5 but this is rather an instance of 

 their uncertainty for a generic character. 



2. M. Faeniculum. Common Fennel. 



Leaves triply pinnate; leaflets awl-shaped, drooping. Brac- 

 teas none. 



M. Fceniculum. Spr en g. Prodr. 32. 



Anethum Fceniculum. Linn. Sp. PI. 377. Willd. v. 1 . 1469. FL 



jBr.329. Engl. Bot. v. 17. t. 1208. Mill. Illustr. t. 13. Woodv. 



Med. Bot. t. 1 60. Ehrh. PI. Off. 213. 

 Fceniculum. Matth. Valgr. v. 2. 135. f. Camer.Epit. 534. f. Fuchs. 



Hist. 50]. f. Riv.Pentap.Irr.t.Gl. 

 F. n. 760. Hall. Hist. v. 1. 333. 

 F. dulce. Bauh. Pin. 147. 

 F. vulgare. Raii Syn.2\7. Ger. Em. 1032./. Gwrtn. v. 1. 105. 



On chalky cliffs, very plentiful. 



Biennial. July, August. 



Root tap-shaped. Herb smooth, of a deep, glaucous green. Stem 

 3 or 4 feet high, erect, copiously branched, solid, round, striated, 

 smooth, leafy. Leaues triply pinnate ; Zea^e/s thread-like, acute, 

 long, more or less drooping. Footstalks with a broad, firm, 

 sheathing base. Umbels terminal, very broad, flat, of very nu- 

 merous, smooth, angular, rather stout, rays; the partial rays 



