THE PARSLEY FAMILY 
ii 7 
into several pairs of lobed (pinnatifid), toothed (serrate) leaflets and i terminal one (impari- 
pinnate), and with leaf-stalks sheathing at the base. 
Rough Chervil. (Chserophyllum temulum, Linn.) — The only British species (as 
described above). Many botanists include the genus Anthriscus with the genus Chaerophyllum and 
so make three more species. The flower clusters drooping in bud, no bracts round the entire cluster, 
but 5-8 hairy, fringed, lance-shaped ones round each little flower cluster ; the stems 1-4 feet high, 
erect, solid, rough with short hairs, blotched with purple, and slightly thickened at the nodes. The 
whole plant turns the most beautiful colours, varying from bright rose to a brownish-purple. 
Very common. Hedges, waysides, and waste places. June — July. Perennial. \Plate 55. 
MEADOW SAXIFRAGE. (SESELI, 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 many, entire. Calyx with 5 teeth ; 
petals 5, with the tip bent inwards, apparently notched ; stamens 5 ; carpels 2. Fruit oval or 
oblong, not flattened, with 10 thickened ridges, of 2 united cases, hairy or smooth, each contain- 
ing 1 hanging seed (cremocarp). Plants with much divided leaves of various habits, and leaf- 
stalks sheathing at the base. 
Mountain Meadow Saxifrage. (Seseli Libanotis, Koch.)— The only British species 
(as just described). The flowers white, with nearly equal petals, each cluster formed of 
20-40 roundish clusters of flowers ; the bracts round the main and separate little flower clusters 
numerous, narrow, and fringed ; the fruit oval, hairy, with 10 blunt ridges, 2-seeded ; the stem 1-3 
feet high, solid, furrowed, slightly branched at the top ; and the leaves divided to the midrib into 
several pairs of leaflets and 1 terminal one, which are similarly sub-divided (bi-imparipinnate) ; 
the leaf-stalks sheathing at the base. 
Very rare. Chalky hills in Cambridgeshire, Sussex, and Hertfordshire. July — August. Perennial. 
WATER DROPWORT. (CENANTHE, 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 variable. Calyx with 5 
teeth, remaining with the fruit (persistent) ; petals 5, unequal, with the tips bent inwards, 
apparently notched ; stamens 5 ; carpels 2. Fruit oblong or oval, crowned with the 2 long, erect 
styles and the 5 short calyx-teeth, smooth, composed of 2 united cases, each containing 1 hanging 
seed (cremocarp). Herbs growing in wet places, with the upper leaves divided to the midrib into 
several pairs of leaflets and 1 terminal one (imparipinnate), and the lower ones similarly sub- 
divided twice or thrice (bi- or tri-imparipinnate), and the leaf-stalks sheathing at the base. 
Common Water-Dropwort. (CEnanthe fistulosa, Linn.)— As just described. The 
flowers white, with the central flowers of each small cluster perfect, but the outer ones without 
carpels, the terminal cluster being composed of only 3 little clusters of flowers, and the others of 
from 3-8 clusters ; bracts o ; fruits in compact, round, spiny clusters, each fruit being oblong, 
and crowned with the calyx-teeth and the 2 long styles which become rigid. Stems 2-3 feet 
high, thick, hollow, with very thin walls, smooth, slightly branched ; the leaves of the upper stem 
very small, shorter than their hollow sheathing stalks, divided to the midrib into one or two pairs 
of narrow, strap-like, blunt leaflets and 1 terminal one ; those of the root small, similarly 
divided and sub-divided into narrow, blunt leaflets, fading by the time the flowers are out. Root 
fibres fleshy, thickened. [ Plate 49. 
Not uncommon. Ditches, by the side of pools and other wet places. July — September. Perennial. 
