1 1 4 WILD FLOWERS OF THE BRITISH ISLES 
flattened, ridged, composed of 2 united cases, each containing 1 hanging seed (cremocarp). Water 
herbs with hollow stems, and leaves divided to the midrib into 3 or more distinct leaflets, which 
may be again and again similarly divided (trifoliate or bi- or tri-imparipinnate), and leaf-stalks 
sheathing at the base. 
Water Cowbane or Water Hemlock. (Cicuta virosa, Linn.) — The only British 
species (as just described). The flowers in large, flat-topped clusters ; the fruit very broad, reddish- 
brown; the stem 1-4 feet high, hollow, and branched ; the leaves with narrow, lance-shaped, toothed 
leaflets. Very poisonous. 
Rare, local. Ditches and ponds, most frequent in the Norfolk Broads. July — August. Perennial. 
STONE PARSLEY. (SISON, LINN.)— A genus consisting of the one species — 
Stone Parsley, Hedge Stone wort. (Sison Amomum, Linn.)— Flowers white, in 
small, irregular clusters of shortly-stalked flowers, all rising from the same point on a longer stalk, 
which longer stalks have one common starting-point on the main flowering-stalk (compound 
umbel). Bracts 2-4, small and narrow, surrounding the entire and each little flower cluster. 
Calyx entirely combined with the seedcase, without teeth; petals 5, broad, with the tip bent 
inwards, apparently notched ; stamens 5 ; carpels 2. Fruit broadly egg-shaped, flattened from 
side to side, with 10 ribs, dark brown, composed of 2 united cases, each containing 1 hanging 
seed (cremocarp). Stem 1-3 feet high, branched, wiry. Leaves of the lower stem divided to the 
midrib into several pairs of oval, toothed, or lobed leaflets, and 1 terminal one (imparipinnate) ; 
those of the upper stem smaller and divided to the base into 3 leaflets with short, narrow, almost 
hair-like lobes. Leaf-stalks sheathing at the base. [Plate 53. 
A very similar plant to the Corn Parsley (Carum segetum). 
Not common. Frequent in hedges and waysides in the south of England ; rare elsewhere. 
August — September. Biennial. 
FOOL’S PARSLEY. (A2THUSA, LINN.)— A genus consisting only of the one following 
species — 
Common Fool’s Parsley. (/Ethusa Cynapium, Linn.) — Flowers white, in clusters of 
shortly-stalked flowers, the outer petals being larger, each cluster starting from the same point 
on a longer stalk, which longer stalks have one common starting-point on the main flowering- 
stalk (compound umbels). Bracts surrounding the entire cluster 1 or o, those surrounding each 
little flower cluster 3, long, narrow, and drooping, all on the outer side of the cluster; these 
bracts distinguish it from any other British Umbellifer. Calyx entirely combined with the seed- 
case, without teeth ; petals 5, unequal, with the tip bent inwards, apparently notched ; stamens 5 ; 
carpels 2. Fruit roundish, not flattened, with 10 ridges, composed of 2 united cases, each contain- 
ing 1 hanging seed (cremocarp). A very graceful herb, about 1 foot high, with leaves divided to 
the midrib into several pairs of distinct leaflets, with 1 terminal one (imparipinnate), which are 
again divided in a similar manner into slender, more or less deeply lobed leaflets (bi-imparipinnate). 
Leaf-stalks sheathing at the base. The whole plant is poisonous. [Plate 53. 
Common. Gardens and cultivated ground. July — September. Annual. 
WATER PARSNIP. (SIUM, LINN.) — Flowers white, in numerous clusters of shortly-stalked 
flowers, each cluster rising from the same point on a longer stalk, which longer stalks have one 
common starting-point on the main flowering-stalk (compound umbel). Bracts variable. Calyx 
