60 



WEEDS. 



than the'corolla, permanent ; stigmas headed ; perianth none ; 

 fruit subovate, furrowed, bipartite. Seeds two, subovate, 

 convex, and striated on one side ; flat on the other. 



Essential character. — Fruit subovate, furrowed. 



The most common species is the " Cicuta virosa," or long- 

 leaved water hemlock, which has the umbels opposite-leaved, 

 petioles margined, obtuse. Stem round, hollow, two, three, 

 and even four feet high, striated, smooth, reddish towards the 

 bottom, dichotomous ; leaves sheathing, a foot and a half 

 long, and near a foot broad ; the lower on long hollow petioles, 

 the upper almost sessile, bipinnate ; some of the pinnas 

 simple, others bifid or trifid ; the serratures sometimes brown ; 

 the end leaf cut into three to the bottom ; all smooth. 



This plant flowers in July and August, and is one of the 

 rankest of our vegetable poisons. Some writers have known 

 cows killed from eating it, and that horses and sheep eat it 

 with safety. It ought to be very carefully removed from pas- 

 tures by digging up and destroying the roots. 



24. The " Meadow saffi'on," or the" Colchicum" of botany, 

 is a very common weed in pasture and grass lands. The 

 plant belongs to the class and order "Hexandria trigynia" of 

 Linneus, and the natural order " Junci" of Jussieu. 



Generic character. — Calyx a spathe. Corolla monope- 

 talous, tubular, very long, springing immediately from the 

 root ; border campanulate, deeply divided into six lanceolate, 

 egg-shaped segments. Stamina :. filaments six, awl-shaped, 

 shorter than the corolla, inserted into the tube ; anthers ob- 

 long, four-valved, incumbent. Pistil : germen superior 

 situated at the bottom of the tube of the corolla, contiguous 

 to the root below the surface of the ground ; styles three, a 

 little longer than the stamens ; stigmas reflexed, channelled. 

 Pericarp : capsules three, inflated, coherent in their lower 

 part, slightly separated towards the summit, opening longi- 

 tudinally on the inner side. Seeds numerous, almost round, 

 wrinkled. 



Esse7itial character. — Calyx a spathe. Corolla six-cleft ; 

 tube springing immediately from the root ; capsules three, 

 connected, inflated, with many seeds. 



