360 



THE UMBELLATE FAMILY. 



Fig. 43 i. 



remainder occupied by a stiff, flattened 

 beak, often compared to the tooth of a 

 comb. 



In fields and waste places, throughout 

 Europe and west central Asia. Fre- 

 quent as a cornfield weed in England, 

 Ireland, and the south of Scotland, but 

 decreasing further northward. FL with 

 the corn. 



XXX. CICELY. MYRRHIS. 



Leaves dissected. Umbels compound, with partial involucres of 

 several bracts, and white flowers. Fruit narrow-oblong, not beaked. 

 Carpels with 5 very prominent, acute ribs, which are hollow inside, 

 and no vittas. Albumen of the seed with a deep longitudinal furrow 

 on the inner face. 



A single species, scarcely distinct as a genus from Chervil. 



1. Sweet Cicely. Myrrhis odorata, Scop. (Fig. 435.) 

 (Scandix, Eng. Bot. t. 697.) 



An erect, branching, hairy perennial, 2 to 3 feet high, with the 

 foliage and habit of a Chervil, and highly aromatic. Leaves large, 

 thin, twice or three times pinnate, with numerous lanceolate segments, 

 deeply pinnatifid and toothed. Umbels terminal, not large, with sel- 

 dom more than 8 or 10 rays, and of these but few ripen their fruits. 

 JSTo general involucre ; bracts of the partial ones lanceolate, thin, whitish, 

 with fine points. Fruits when ripe 6 or 7 lines to near an inch long ; 

 the very prominent ribs occasionally rough with minute hairs. 



A native of mountain pastures, in central and southern Europe, 

 from the Pyrenees to the Caucasus. Of ancient cultivation in more 



