202 THE UMBELLATE FAMILY. [Physospermum. 



Stem erect, almost leafless, 1^ to 2 feet high, slightly branched. Kadical 

 leaves on long stalks, twice or thrice ternate ; the segments ovate or 

 cuneate, and deeply cut. Umbels terminal, of 10 to 12 rays, with rather 

 large, white flowers. Involucres, both general and partial, of very few 

 linear bracts. The fruits have the appearance of two little smooth 

 bladders placed face to face, with a loose seed in each. 



A mountain plant, occurring here and there along the great European 

 chain from the Asturias to the Caucasus, and reappearing in a few very 

 limited localities in Cornwall and Devonshire. Fl. late in summer. The 

 Continental plant, P. commutatum, Spr., is by some botanists considered 

 as a distinct species from the British one, but the characters appear to 

 have been derived from the examination of single specimens. 



XXXV. SMYRNIUM. SMYKNIUM. 



Leaves entire or dissected. Umbels compound, either without in- 

 volucre, or only a very few small bracts. Flowers yellow. Fruit 2- 

 lobed ; the carpels ovoid, attached by the very narrow face, each with 

 3 prominent-angular ribs, and several vittas under the interstices. 

 Albumen with a longitudinal furrow on the inner face. 



A genus of few species, from the Mediterranean region and western 

 Asia. 



1. S. Olusatrum, Linn. (fig. 455). Alexanders. — A coarse, erect 

 annual or biennial, 2 to 4 feet high, and nearly glabrous. Lower leaves 

 twice or thrice, upper ones but once ternate; the segments, broadly 

 ovate, coarsely toothed or 3-lobed, 2 or more inches long and broad, 

 and often of a yellowish-green. Umbels terminal, of 8 to 12 rays. 

 Flowers of a greenish-yellow, much crowded in the partial umbels. 

 As the fruit ripens, the peduncles are often much thickened under the 

 umbels. Carpels above 3 lines long, very angular. 



In meadows and waste places, especially near the sea, all round the 

 Mediterranean and up western Europe to the English Channel. Pro- 

 bably indigenous in several counties of southern England and Ireland ; 

 having been formerly much cultivated, it has spread into many inland 

 parts of England and southern Scotland. Fl. spring and early summer. 



XXXYI. COEIANDRUM. COKIANDEK. 



Fruit globular, not readily separating into the two carpels, crowned 

 by the conspicuous teeth of the calyx, the ribs scarcely prominent, and 

 no vittas. 



A single species, very distinct in the form of the fruit. 



1. C. sativum, Linn. (fig. 456). Coriander. — An erect, branching, 

 glabrous annual, 1 to 1| feet high, emitting a very disagreeable smell 

 when rubbed. Lowest leaves once or twice pinnate, with broadly-ovate 

 or cuneate, deeply-cut segments ; the others more divided, with linear 

 segments, few and slender in the uppermost leaves. Umbels terminal, 

 rather small, of 5 to 8 rays, without general involucre, and only a few 

 small slender bracts to the partial ones. Flowers white, the outer 

 petals larger. Fruits about 2 lines long. 



A native of the Levant, long since cultivated in Europe, and occasion- 

 ally spreading as a weed of cultivation. Said to be established as such 

 in some of the southern and eastern counties of England. Fl. summer. 



