148 



DICOTYLEDONS 



fruits have oil canals {v) in their walls which are ribbed. 



The oil -canals of the mericarps 

 of the Cow - parsnip are of a 

 characteristic club-shape (»). Seed 

 {sd) endospermic. Pollination. — 

 The flowers are small, and there- 

 fore not conspicuous, but they are 

 crowded together in order to form 

 a showy mass of bloom which 

 shall serve to attract the notice 

 of insects. In the Cow-parsnip 

 this showiness is further enhanced 

 by the enlargement of the petals 

 at the margin of the inflorescence. 



The flowers are for the most part regular, with honey so freely 



exposed that insects possessing even the 



shortest tongues can sip at the honey. 



The consequence is that these flowers 



are largely visited and cross - polUnated 



by short - tongued insects, especially by p-jg ,86. -Part of 



flies, beetles, and wasps ; but are largely mericarp of Heradexm 



neglected by long-tongued insects, such ^f^l^yUum cn^ ^o^-. 



as moths and butterflies. 



Fig. 1B5. — Fruit (schizocarp) of 

 Heracleum sphondyliuni : r=ribs ; 

 v=oiI-canals; j^=stigma \ch = car- 

 pophore. 



USES, PECULIARITIES, etc., of Umbellifer^. 



The Carrot and Parsnip {Fastinaca) are cultivated for the 

 sake of their large tap-roots ; Parsley {Petroselinuni) for its green 

 leaves ; Celery (Apium graveolens) for its partially etiolated 

 leaf-stalks and stem-base. The Hemlock {Conium) and some 

 other Umbelliferae are poisonous. 



PRIMULACE.ffi (Primrose Family) 



Herbs. Flowers regular, hypogynous, often showy. Sepals 

 five, gamosepalous. Petals usually five, gamopetalous. 

 Stamens usually five, opposite the petals, epipetalous. Carpels 

 superior, syncarpous ; ovary one-chambered, with many ovules 

 on a free-central placenta ; style one ; stigma simple. Fruit a 

 capsule. 



