UMBELLIFER. 29 
heart-shaped form. Flowers in axillary cymes; petals, usually five, elon- 
gated, soon spreading or bent back. Anthers adnate. Fruit brownish 
green, quite viscid (sticky); distinctly contracted at the summit. The 
Hanging Mistletoe is a native of Australia. Like the preceding one, this 
parasite is very destructive. Both, if not checked, spread over the trees 
and kill them, thus causing great loss in our timber resources. It is espe- 
cially common on Eucalpyts, but also grows on Acacias and other trees. 
Birds are mainly responsible for the conveyance of seeds from infested 
to healthy trees. The infested branches should be cut off and burned. 
Proclaimed under the Thistle Act for the whole State—October, 1904. 
UMBELLIFER® (Carrot FAamMIty). 
A large order easily recognised by the rayed groups of flowers, usually 
white, and leaving stalked clusters of seed like fruits, each splitting into 
two when ripe. It contains several plants of economic value, carrot, par- 
snip, celery, parsley, earthnut, or pignut, &c. These, for the most part, 
readily run wild when neglected, and, the wild form of the cultivated carrot 
(Daucus carota, L.) often becomes troublesome in neglected fields. Its root 
then becomes hard and tough, but the leaves retain a certain fodder value, 
and are readily eaten by stock. Similarly, the Fennel (Pa@niculum vulgare, 
Gertn.) is a common garden escape in many parts, often very luxuriant in 
neglected gardens, fields, and waste places. The root-stock is, however, 
usually of short duration, and the seed are short-lived. Hence, cultivation 
or the prevention of seeding soon suppresses the plant. The plant is a tall 
one, and can be recognised by its aromatic smell, its yellow flowers, and 
the absence of any bracts at the bases of the flower clusters. 
KS” Conium maculatum, L. The Hemlock. A native of Europe and Asia. 
It is a poisonous plant, whose leaves emit a peculiar mouse-like smell when 
tubbed. The Fool’s Parsley (4thusa cynapium, L.) has a similar dis- 
agreeable smell, but it is a smaller annual plant, a foot or two high, with 
bright green leaves, and the bracts beneath the flower clusters bent down- 
wards, which is unusual in Umbellifere. In the Hemlock, there are also 
usually three bracts beneath each flower cluster, but they are turned towards 
the outside of the cluster, and not bent downwards. It is an erect annual 
or biennial often over five feet high, with large, much divided leaves, and 
ten to fifteen rayed compound terminal umbels, each main umbel with a 
variable number of green bracts at its base. The fruit (5) and (c) is 
flattened, and with five ribs on each side. 
EXPLANATION OF PLATE (HEMLOCR). 
(a), Secondary umbel in fruit. 
(6) Fruit from side shewing ribs. . x 
(ec) Half of fruit in transverse section. . 
The Hemlock is a common garden escape, found in waste places and 
fields in several parts, and it has been widely grown in gardens as the 
carrot or parsley fern. It recently was responsible for the poisoning of a 
number of cows.at Warrnambool, and also for the death of a child at 
Clunes. Fortunately, its smell usually repels stock and children, but the 
plant is highly poisonous, owing to the presence of the poisonous alkaloid 
—coniin, most abundant in the seeds, but also present in the leaves and 
stem. Goats appear to be largely immune to the action of the poison. Fool’s 
Parsley is less poisonous, but still dangerous when present among fodder. 
Being an annual, it is easily suppressed by preventing the formation of 
seeds, by cutting, hoeing, or cultivation. The same applies to the Hemlock, 
although its eradication is more difficult, since it may last for two years. 
