122 FLOWERS OF FIELD, HILL, AND SWAMP 



ers in compound terminal umbels, with conspicuous involucre of 

 many narrow bracts. Stem weak, hollow. In flowers of this 

 family the anthers mature some time after the stigma is ripe — an 

 arrangement to secure cross-fertilization. 



12. Berula 



Birula angustifblia. — Family, Parsley. Color, white. 

 Leaves, pinnate, the leaflets — 5 to 9 pairs — sharply or ob- 

 tusely toothed or lobed, 3 inches long or less. Time, July, 

 August. 



Flowers in compound umbels, with rather large involucre of 

 narrow bracts. An erect stem from 6 to 30 inches tall, smooth, 

 round. 



13, Water-milfoil 



Nlyriophyllum veriicillttum. — Family, Water-milfoil. Color, 

 greenish or white. Leaves, very much and finely cut, like the 

 teeth of a comb ; whorled in threes or fours. Petals, often 

 none. Stamens, 8. 



The flowers are inconspicuous, sessile, in the axils of the leaves. 

 The only acquaintance 1 have with this plant is through a speci- 

 men sent me from a friend in southern New Jersey. I placed my 

 plant in a dish of water and kept it for weeks. Its finely dis- 

 sected leaves grew very fast and overlapped the edges of the dish. 

 White blossoms appeared in March. 



There are several members of this family which grow in ponds 

 and shallow streams. They all have capillary leaves, usually 

 whorled on the stem. 



M. scabrcttum is a delicate species found in shallow waters. 

 The flowers have 4 stamens. The leaves are whorled, 4 or 5 

 in a whorl, the lower ones finely cut, the upper entire. 



15 



M. amb'tguum has few or no leaves on the flowering stems. 



