THE PARSLEY FAMILY 
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with 5 teeth ; petals 5, roundish, with the tip bent inwards, apparently notched ; stamens 5 ; 
carpels 2. Fruit roundish, flattened, ridged, composed of 2 united cases, each containing 1 hanging 
seed (cremocarp). Herbs usually growing in wet places, with leaves divided to the midrib into 
toothed or lobed leaflets, and leaf-stalks sheathing at the base. 
Broad-leaved Water-Parsnip. (Sium latifolium, Linn.)— As just described. The 
flowers white, in numerous clusters, forming a large, flat-topped mass of flowers ; with many, leafy, 
lance-shaped, toothed (serrate) bracts round the entire and separate flower clusters ; the fruit oval, 
strongly ridged, 2-seeded ; the stem 2-4 feet high, erect, stout, furrowed, smooth ; and the leaves 
of the lower stem divided to the midrib into 6-10 pairs of very long, narrowly egg-shaped (ovate), 
toothed (serrate), stalkless (sessile) leaflets, with 1 terminal one ; those of the upper stem 
shorter, with fewer leaflets ; the leaf-stalks with sheathing bases, the upper much dilated. 
Rare. Ditches, riversides, watery places. July — September. Perennial. 
Narrow-leaved Water-Parsnip. (Sium erectum, Huds.) — A very similar species, with 
more numerous, but smaller, clusters of flowers, on shorter stalks ; lobed and more deeply toothed 
bracts ; smaller fruit, rounder and less strongly ridged ; the stems seldom more than 2 feet high 
and leafy ; shorter and deeply lobed and toothed leaflets. [Plate 54. 
Not common. Ditches and wet places. July — August. Perennial. 
FENNEL. (FCENICULUM, LINN .) — Flowers deep yellow, in clusters of shortly-stalked flowers, all 
rising from the same point on longer stalks, which longer stalks have one common starting-point 
on the main flowering-stalk (compound umbels). Bracts o, calyx entirely combined with the seedcase, 
without teeth ; petals 5, nearly equal, with the tips bent inwards, not notched ; stamens 5 ; carpels 
2. Fruit oval, not flattened, with 10 strongly-marked ridges, of 2 united cases, each containing r 
hanging seed (cremocarp). Tall plants with leaves divided and much sub-divided to the midrib into 
very narrow leaflets (bi- or tri-imparipinnate), and the leaf-stalks sheathing at the base. 
Common Fennel. (Foeniculum vulgare, Mill.) — The only British species (as just 
described). The flowers deep yellow ; the stem 3-5 feet high, erect, polished, thick, branched, 
deep green, and the leaves divided to the midrib into several pairs of leaflets, which are similarly 
twice or thrice sub-divided into narrow, hair-like, roundish leaflets (bi- or tri-imparipinnate) ; the 
leaf-stalks sheathing at the base, cut, and bent back, looking like stipules. [Plate 54. 
An aromatic plant, cultivated for its leaves, which are used in cooking. 
Not common. Waste places, especially near the sea. July — August. Perennial. 
SAMPHIRE. (CRITHMUM, LINN.)— A genus consisting of the one species — 
Rock Samphire. (Crithmum maritimum, Linn.) — Flowers pale greenish-yellow, in 
numerous clusters of shortly-stalked flowers, all arising from the same point on longer stalks, which 
longer stalks have one common starting-point on the main flowering-stalk (compound umbels). 
Bracts numerous, egg-shaped (ovate), surrounding the entire cluster and each little flower cluster. 
Calyx entirely combined with the seedcase, without teeth ; petals 5, equal, bent inwards ; 
stamens 5 ; carpels 2. Fruit oblong, not flattened, with ro sharp ridges, composed of 2 united 
cases, each containing 1 hanging seed (cremocarp). A smooth, fleshy, branched plant, about 
r foot high, woody at the base, leaves divided into 3 leaflets, which are similarly sub-divided once 
or even twice (bi- or tri-trifoliate) into narrow, thick, fleshy leaflets, with the leaf-stalks sheathing 
at the base. 
The plant has an aromatic scent, and its young leaves make an excellent pickle. 
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