150 



WEEDS AND USEFUL PLAJfTS. 



with them sprigs of fennel to keep them awake during the long sermon, 

 a practice which is not entirely obsolete. In the more primitive portions 

 of the country, the patch of' fennel may still be seen growing, and the 

 sanctuary is still redolent of its odors. ^ 



6. CA'RUM, Koch. Caraway. 



[Said to be derived from Carta — the native country of the plant. 



Fruit ovate or oblong. Carpels with 5 filiform equal ribs. Channels 

 with single oil-tubes. Involucre and involucels mostly wanting. Stems 

 striate, smooth. Leaves pinnately dissected ; segments multifid. Flow- 

 ers white. 



1. C. Ca'eui, L. Leaves somewhat bipinnatifid, the segments linear ; 

 involucre 1-leaved or 0 ; involucels 0. 

 Carian Oarum. Common Caraway. 



Fr. Carvi. Germ. Gemeiner Kuemmei. Span. Alcaravea. 



J?.ooi biennial? (perennial, DC), fusiform. Stem about 2 feet bigb, brancbed. Radical 

 leaves rather large ; stem leaves multifid, the segments filiform. Fetals white. Fmit oblong 

 or elliptic, often oblique at apex. 



Gardens : cultivated. Native of Europe. Fl. June. J^V. August. 



Obs. This is sometimes cultivated for its highly aromatic fruit, — which 

 is used to impart a flavor to cakes, and other articles of cookery. 



7. A'PIUM, L. Celery. 



[From the Celtic, Apon, water ; near which it naturally grows.] 



Fruit roundish. Carpels with 5 filiform equal ribs, (channels with sin- 

 gle oil-tubes, the outer ones often with 2 - 3. Involucre and involucels 0. 

 Stems sulcate. Leaves pinnately dissected, with wedge-shaped divisions. 



1. A. grave'olens, L. var. dulce. Lower leaves on very long petioles ; 

 segments cuneate, lobed. 



Strong-scented Apium. Celery. 



Fr. Celeri. Germ.. Ber Celeri. Span. Apio hortense. 



Whole plant glabrous. Root biennial, fusiform. Stem 2-3 feet high, branching. 

 Radical leaves on stout succulent channeled petioles, 6-12 inches or more in length, and 

 which are green, or often purplish, when not artificially blanched ; stem leaves on short 

 petioles. Umbels terminal and axillary. — the axillary ones often subsessile ; ?-a!/s unequal, 

 spreading. Petals greenish-white. Fruit nearly orbicular. 



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



Obs. This is much cultivated for the sake of the succulent spicy petioles 

 of the radical leaves,— which are used as a salad : but in order to be 

 rendered palatable— or even eatable — they require to be blanched or 

 etiolated by the exclusion of light. — which is usually effected by planting 

 in trenches and covering them with earth. The var. rapaceum, DC, or 

 Turnip-rooted Celery, is also cultivated,— though not so commonly. 



