PAESLET FAMILY. 



149 



terete, striate. Leaves pinnately or ternately dissected, the rather rigid 

 leaflets entire or sparingly toothed near the apex. 

 L A. rig'ida, DC. Leaflets 3 - 9, sessile, oblong-lanceolate, very entire 

 or remotely incised-dentate near the apex ; umbels terminal and subter- 

 minal, on long peduncles. 



EiGiD OR STIFF Archemora. Cow-banc. Wild Parsnip. 



■VThole plant smooth. Root perennial. Stem 2 - 4 or 5 feet high, rather slender, sparingly 

 branched above. Leaves all simply pseudo-piunate ; common petioles 1-5 or 6 inches long, 

 channeled and somewhat margined ; leaflets or segments 2 - 3 or 4 inches long — varying from 

 linear to ovate-lanceolate and cuneate-oblong, often a little falcate. Umbels aboutS, on rather 

 long sulcate-striate peduncles. Involucre or sometimes of 2-3 lance-linear leaflets. InvO' 

 Zi«;e?^^ of 6 - 8 subulate-linear leaflets. Pefals white. Channels filled to convexity by the 

 dark purple oil-tubes. Inner face of the carpels a little concave, lined with a white corky 

 coat. 



Swampy meadows and low grounds : Xew York to Louisiana. Fl. August. Fr. Oct. 



Obs. This is reputed to be an active poison, particularly to horned 

 cattle, when eaten by them ; and therefore every farmer is interested in 

 knowing the plant, and causing it to be eradicated from his meadows 

 and pastures. It varies somewhat in its features ; but the above is a 

 description of its usual form, in Pennsylvania. 



5. FCENIC'ULUM, Adans. Fennel. 



[Latin, diminutive oZ Fcenum, hay ; from a resemblance in its odor.] 



Fruit elliptic-oblong, subterete. Carpels with 5 obtuse keeled ribs, of 

 which the lateral ones are marginal, and often a little broader. Channels 

 with single oil-tubes. Involucre and invoJucels 0. Biennial or perennial. 

 Stems terete, striate. Leaves decompound, pinnately dissected, the seg- 

 ments linear. Flowers yellow. 



1. F. vulga're, Gaertn. Segments of the leaves subulate-linear, elon- 

 gated ; umbels many-rayed. 

 Common F(eniculum. Fennel. Garden Fennel. 

 Fr, Fenouil. Germ. Der Fenchel. Span. Hinojo. 



Plant smooth. i2ooi perennial ? (biennial, DC). Stem 4-5 or 6 feet high, branching, 

 striate-grooved, purplish-green and somewhat glaucous ; leaves large, finely and somewhat 

 biternately dissected ; segments an inch to an inch and a half long, almost filiform, the sub- 

 divisions often dichotomous : common petioles much dilated, sheathing, produced into 2 mar- 

 ginal lobes at summit. Umbels of 15-20 or 30 unequal rays. 



Gardens : cultivated. Native of Europe. Fl. July. Fr. September. 



Obs. The whole plant is highly aromatic. Those who kept Bees, in 

 former years, were much in the practice, when those insects swarmed, of 

 rubbing the inside of the bee-hive with this fragrant herb, under the 

 impression that the odor would attach them to their new domicil. It is 

 chiefly cultivated for its aromatic fruit, which is occasionally used in 

 domestic economy ; and is sometimes smoked, like tobacco, as a popular 

 remedy for cholic. Those who have read the charming pictures of early 

 New England life, in " Goodrich's Kecollections of a Lifetime," will 

 recollect the mention of the custom of the old ladies to carry to church 



