134 UMBELLIFEKjE. 



vittee. Seed pendillous. Embryo miniite, in a homy albumen.— Herbs or 

 shrubs. Leaves altematej often much dividedi the petiole usually dilated at 

 the base, but no real stipules. Flowers usually small, in lateral Or terminal 

 umbels, rarely reduced to heads, and often with one Or more bracts, forming 

 an involucre at the base of the umbel. 



A large Order, widely dispersed over the nbrt^ei* hemisphere, Arid especially Iti the tem- 

 perate regions, with a few tropical speciesi and rather more in. the temperate regions of the 

 sonthem hemisphere. 

 Flower* in simple nmhels or heads. Carpels orbicnlar, flat. Cr&ping 



or floating herbs , 1. HiDROcoiTLE. 



Umhel comfound. Fruit globular. Erect annual 2. Couianbeum. 



1. HYDROCOTYLE, Linn. 



Flowers in simple heads, umbels, or whorls, Petals ovate. Fruit laterally 

 compressed, orbicular or broader than long; the carpels flat, placed edge to 

 edge, with 1 or 3 prominent ribs on each side, and without prominent calycine 

 teeth. — Herbs, usually prostrate and creeping, or aquatic. Leaves seldom 

 divided, and usually peltate ot cordate. 



A considerable gettus, dispersed over the greater part of the ^obe. 



Mowers 3 or 4 in a head. Fruit near 3 lines diameter, with 2 scarcely 

 prominent ribs on each side 1. i7. asiatica. 



Mowers 10 or more in a hekd. Fruit about i of a line diameter, with 



1 very prominent rib oneach side i. S. rotundifolia. 



1. H. asiatica, lAnn.; DC.Frod.iv.e2; Wiffht,Ie.i.565. A creep- 

 ing perennial, rooting at the nodes, and sometimes half-floating. Leaves or- 

 bicular or kidney-shaped, variable in size, but usually about 1 in. diameter, 

 crenate, and rather thick, glabrous or pubescelit, on petioles vaiying from 

 ■|- in. to 2 or 3 in. long. Flowers small, 3 or 4 together, in little heads clus- 

 tered with the petioles, and either sessile or on peduncles varying much in 

 length. Fruits rather large for the genus, orbicular, near 8 fines diameter, 

 with 3 obtuse and not Very prominent ribs on each side of each carpel. — 

 jr. lurida, Hance in Walp. Ann. ii. 690. 



In rice-fields and swamps, ChMtfion and others. Common in tropical Asia and Africa, 

 found also in South Americaj AustTidia, and New Zealand, and extending northward to Loo- 

 choo and Benin. 



3. H. rotundifolia, Boxb.-. DC. Prod. iv. 64; Wight, Ic. t. B64. A 

 much smaller and more slender plant than the last. Le&ves from i to -j in. 

 diameter, orbicular or reniform, B- or 7-lobed, and crenately toothed, glabrous 

 or hispid underneath, on slender petioles. Flowers small, about 10 to 30 

 together, in globular sessile or shortly pedunculate heads. Fruits about j line 

 in diameter, with one acute prominent rib on each side of each carpel. — 

 H. pefeSsigm, Hance in Walp. Ann. ii. 691. 



Common in rice-fields and damp half-shady places, Champion and others. Extends over 

 the greater part of India and the Archipelago, and northward to the Philippines, South 

 China, and Locfchoo. 



a. COEIANDRITM:, Linn. 

 Flowers in compound tuhbels, the outer petals of the umbel larger than 

 the others. Fruit globul**, crowned by the conspicuous teeth of the ealyx, 



