344 



THE UMBELLATE FAMILY. 



2. Parsley CEnanth. 



CEnanthe pimpinelloides, Linn.. 

 (Fig. 417.) 



Fig. 417. 



(Eng. Bot. t. 347 and 348. CE. Lachenalii and CE. silaifolia, Brit. Fl.) 



A perennial, with clustered fibrous 

 roots, swelling into round, ovoid, or ob- 

 long tubers, at a greater or less distance 

 from the stock, or, in very wet places, 

 remaining sometimes slender through- 

 out. Stems erect, firmer and more solid 

 than in the common CE., 1 to 2 feet high 

 or sometimes more, with a few long 

 branches. Leaves much more divi- 

 ded than in the last species, but very 

 variable ; the upper ones usually with 

 long, narrow segments, those of the ra- 

 dical leaves much shorter and broader, 

 and sometimes very numerous. Umbels 

 of 8 to 15 rather short rays ; the gene- 

 ral involucre of a few small, linear bracts, 

 or sometimes wanting ; the partial ones 

 of several small, linear bracts. The fer- 

 tile sessile or shortly pedicellate flowers, 

 and the distinctly pedicellate barren ones, are mixed in the same 

 umbels ; the persistent styles on the ripe fruits much shorter than in 

 the common CE. 



In meadows, pastures, and marshes, throughout central and southern 

 Europe, extending northwards to the Baltic, and eastward to the Cau- 

 casus. Abundant in many parts of England and Ireland, but does not 

 penetrate far into Scotland. Fl. summer and autumn. The great va- 

 riations in the tubers of the roots and in the form of the radical leaves 

 has induced its division into two, three, or four species. These diffe- 

 rences have, however, been shown to depend often on soil and situa- 

 tion; at the same time rather more constant differences have been 

 pointed out in the fruiting umbels, although even here intermediate 

 states show that the two following should be considered rather as 

 marked varieties than as true species. 



a. Meadow Parsley CE. (CE. pimpinelloides, Brit. Fl.) Flowers as- 

 suming occasionally a faint tinge of yellowish-green. Fruiting pedicels 

 (although very short) enlarged at the top so as to form a callosity 

 round the base of the fruit, which is itself fully as broad at the base as 

 at the top. In dry or moist, but not marshy meadows and pastures, 

 and the commonest form in inland situations. 



