204 UMBELLiFER^. [CEnanthe. 



fruit ripens become erect and partially enclose the carpels. Flowers very small. 

 Petals golden yellow, inflexed. Stj/les very short and minute, deciduous ; stulo- 

 podium plane. Stamens incurved, mostly falling away ; anthers yellow, fruit 

 ovate, much narrower than in the next species, purplish ; mericarps wilh 3 thin, 

 sharp, not very prominent ridges, and 2 less distinct marginal ones, the interstices 

 with a deep furrow, and wrinkled but not granulated. 



The aspect of this singular but handsome annual reminds one of an Euphorbia 

 rather than of an umbellate plant. In America, where it is rare and probably 

 introduced, it is called Modesty {Torrey and Gray, Fl. of N. Amer., and Darling- 

 ton, n. Cest.) 



2. B. tenmssimum, L. Slender Hare's-ear. " Stem very much 

 branched, leaves linear acute, umbels very minute few-flowered, 

 partial ones usually shorter than the setaceous involucres." — Br. 

 Fl. p. 166. E. B. t. 478. 



In dry mai-itime pastures, on banis, and along ditches in salt-marshes, but not 

 very common, i^/. July — September. /V.October. 0. 



E. Med. — Shore at E. Cowes, opposite E. Cowes castle. Salt-marsh near 

 Quarr, Mr. TTios. Meehan !!! Abundant on the inner face of the sea-bank in Bra- 

 dine barbour, W. Wilson Saunders, Esq. .'.'.' 



W. Med. — Near Gurnet bay. Ccnnmon along the edges of the brine-pits of 

 the siilterns by Newtown. By the Medina, between W. Cowes and Medham. 

 In salt-marsh pastures at Barnfield, near Yarmouth, in considerable plenty. 



A slender quite smooth plant, very inconspicuous amongst the herbage of salt- 

 marshf.", variable in size, from 4 to 18 inches high, nearly simple or much 

 branched from the base. Root slender and tapering. Stem one or more, very 

 slender, wiry, zigzag, striated and somewhat angular, a little glaucous, with 

 ascending' and widely spreading branches. Leaves an inch or two in length, a 

 little stiff and rigid, linear-lanceolale, subfalcale, acute, 3-ribbed, sessile and 

 almost clasping, but not decurrenl. Uinbels lateral and terminal, very minute, of 

 3 or 4 flowers, surrounded by an involucre of 5 linear acute leaves, with incurved 

 tips, and (mostly) longer than the flowers. Pfta/i- yellow, inflexed. Sli/les very 

 short. Fruit covered with rough granulations, broadly ovate, compressed and a 

 little contracted laterally ; mericarps each with 3 distant prominent ridges, and 2 

 smaller marginal ones, their interstices without «««. Carpophore di\ided. 



The reported acrid and unpleasant taste and smell of this plant my own expe- 

 rience does not confirm. Of scent it has little or none, and when chewed gives a 

 very slight impression only of warmth and bitterness. Of the four species of 

 £vpleurum found wild in England, not one has yet been discovered in Scotland 

 or Ireland ; even the jire.sent and most northerly of the European species, which 

 ranges in Sweden to 57°, does not in Britain extend higher than Durham. It 

 is not essentially a mai"itime species, though less commonly found far inland. I 

 have seen specimens gathered in Worcestershire, nearMahein, by my friend 

 Albert Hambroiigh, Esq. 



** Syndicarps ovate or elliptical, rounded, on a transverse section. 



XV. OEnanthe, Linn. Water-dropwort. 



" Fruit ovate-cylindrical, cro-wned with the long nearly straight 

 styles. Carpels more or less corky, with 5 blunt, convex ribs, 

 and single vittce in the interstices. Calyx-teeth lanceolate. Petals 

 obcordate, with an inflected point, radiant. (Partial involucre of 

 many rays)._ Flowers of the circumference on long stalks and ste- 

 rile : those of the centre sessile, or nearly so, and fertile," — 

 Br. Fl. 



