Peueedanum.] XXXV. UMBELLIFERjE. 195 



only a few very slender small bracts to the partial ones. Flowers 

 white. Fruit nearly orbicular, about 2 lines diameter. 



A native of mountain pastures in central Europe ; formerly much 

 cultivated as a pot-herb, and now naturalised in several parts of 

 northern Europe, in the north of England, and in Scotland. FL early 

 summer. 



XXIV. PASTINACA. PARSNIP. 



Habit and fruit of Heracleum, but the flowers are yellow and all 

 small. The vittas are also usually more slender, and descend lower 

 down on the fruit, but this character is not constant. 



A genus of very few species, chiefly from the Mediterranean region 

 and west-central Asia, now often reduced to a section of Peueedanum. 



1. P. sativa, Linn. (fig. 438). Common P. — An annual or biennial, 

 forming a tap-root, with an erect stem seldom more than 2 feet high 

 when wild, 3 or 4 when cultivated. Lower leaves pinnate, coarse, and 

 more or less downy, especially on the under side, with 5, 7, or 9 seg- 

 ments, each 1 to 3 inches long, sharply toothed, and more or less lobed, 

 especially the terminal one ; upper leaves small and less divided. 

 Umbels not very large, of 8 to 12 rays, usually without involucres. 

 Fruits about 3 lines long, flat and oval, with scarcely prominent ribs, 

 the vittas very conspicuous, descending nearly to the base of the fruit. 



In pastures and thickets, on banks and edges of fields, throughout 

 central and southern Europe, and temperate Russian Asia. Frequent 

 in England, extending at least as far north as Durham, an escape in 

 Scotland, and doubtful native of Ireland. FL summer. 



XXV. HERACLEUM. HERACLEUM. 



Coarse, rough herbs, the leaves dissected with large segments. 

 Umbels compound; the bracts few and deciduous or none. Flowers 

 white ; the outer petals of each umbel larger. Fruit flattened from 

 front to back, with a single thin border (splitting only by the separa- 

 tion of the carpels). Carpels broad, with 3 very fine, scarcely promi- 

 nent ribs ; or if 5, the 2 outside ones close to the border. Vittas single 

 to each interstice, not descending to the base of the fruit, and often 

 thickened at the lower end. 



A rather natural genus, comprising a considerable number of species, 

 from the mountains of central and southern Europe, and especially 

 central Asia, with a single North American one. Some Asiatic species, 

 remarkable for their size (the annual stems 12 to 15 feet, with umbels 

 more than a foot in diameter), are occasionally grown in our gardens. 



1. H. Sphondylium, Linn. (fig. 439). Cow Parsnip or Hogweed. — A 

 tall, coarse plant, although not quite so large nor so much branched as 

 Angelica sylvestris, and the stock of much shorter duration, but not 

 strictly biennial as commonly supposed ; the whole plant more or less 

 rough, with short, stiff hairs. Leaves pinnate, with 3, 5, or 7 large, 

 broad segments, usually 3-lobed and toothed, from 3 to 5 inches long 

 and at least as broad, sometimes more numerous and much narrower. 

 Umbels large, of about 20 rays, the outer petals much larger than the 

 others. Carpels nearly orbicular, 3 or 4 lines long ; the vittas very 

 conspicuous, often only reaching halfway down the fruit. 



