WILD FLOWERS OF THE BRITISH ISLES 
1 16 
Not common. On cliffs by the sea-shore, chiefly on our southern and western coasts. July — August. 
Perennial. 
BURNET-SAXIFRAGE. (PIMPINELLA, LINN.) — Flowers white, rarely pink or yellowish, in 
terminal 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, with the tip bent 
inwards, apparently notched ; stamens 5 ; carpels 2. Fruit oval, flattened from side to side, with 
10 ridges, composed of 2 united cases, each containing 1 hanging seed (cremocarp). Herbs with 
the root (radical) leaves divided to the midrib into several pairs of oval, toothed (serrate) or lobed 
(pinnatifid) leaflets, and 1 terminal one (imparipinnate), and with the leaf-stalks sheathing at the 
base. 
Common Burnet Saxifrage. (Pimpinella Saxifraga, Linn.)— As just described. 
The flowers white, sometimes pinkish, in small, close clusters; the fruit oval, flattened, with 10 
ridges, 2-seeded ; the stem 9 inches to 3 feet high, branched, round, slender ; the leaves of the root 
divided to the midrib into 4-8 pairs of roundish, stalkless, toothed or lobed leaflets, and 1 
terminal one ; those of the stem few, the leaflets becoming narrower and the lobes strap-shaped ; 
with the leaf-stalks sheathing at the base. [ Plate 55. 
Very common. Hedges, waysides, and waste places. July — September. Perennial. 
Greater Burnet Saxifrage. (Pimpinella major, Huds.)— A very similar species, but 
larger in all ways, usually with pink flowers, and toothed, egg-shaped leaflets, rarely lobed. 
Not common, local. Waysides, bushy places. July — September. Perennial. 
PIG-NUT or EARTH-NUT. (CONOPODIUM, KOCH.)— A genus consisting of the one 
species — 
Common Pig-nut or Earth-nut. (Conopodium denudatum, Koch.)— Flowers white, 
in clusters of shortly-stalked flowers, the outer petals larger, 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 or few. Sepals 5, entirely combined with the seedcase, without 
teeth ; petals 5, unequal, with the tip bent inwards ; stamens 5 ; carpels 2. Fruit oblong, slightly 
flattened at the sides, contracted at the top, with 10 ridges, composed of 2 united cases, each con- 
taining 1 hanging seed (cremocarp). Stem about 1 foot high, slender, very slightly branched. 
Leaves divided to the base into 3 leaflets, which are divided and sub-divided to the midrib into 
several pairs of narrow, strap-shaped leaflets, and 1 terminal one ; the larger root-leaves decaying 
early. Leaf-stalks sheathing at the base. Root-fibres with roundish tubers covered with a thin 
brown skin, and eagerly devoured by pigs. [ Plate 55. 
Common. Pastures, hillsides, and woods. May — July. Perennial. 
CHERVIL. (CH/EROPHYLLUM, LINN.) — Flowers white, 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 or very few. Calyx entirely combined 
with the seedcase, without teeth ; petals 5, unequal, with the tip bent inwards, apparently notched ; 
stamens 5; carpels 2. Fruit narrowly oblong, beaked at the top, of 2 united cases, with 10 slight 
ridges sometimes not shewing, each case containing 1 hanging seed (cremocarp). Hairy herbs 
with hairy leaves divided to the base into 3 leaflets (trifoliate), which are divided to the midrib 
