CXCII. — THE WILD CHERVIL. 
Chcerophyllum sylvestre Linne. 
T HOSE who make no pretence to botanical knowledge are familiar with many 
umbelliferous plants in field and hedgerow, orchard, and waste-places. They 
notice merely the much-cut fern-like leaves with sheathing base and the broad flat 
round clusters of small white blossoms borne aloft horizontally on numerous stalks 
radiating from a common point like the supports of an umbrella. The familiarity of 
this sight causes them to overlook its beauty : the Hemlocks or Wild Parsley are 
but common weeds. In winter, perhaps, it is noticed that the stems of the annual 
shoots remain as brittle hollow tubes, inside which strips of dead pith may be seen ; 
and in many parts of the country these hollow stems are known as Kecks , Kecksies, 
Kaxes, or some similar name. In former times, when hand- looms were common, 
these Kecks were used as winders for yarn ; but it is not clear whether the term 
was first applied to the hollow stem of the handy weed or to the winder used by the 
craftsman, whatever its material might be. There was undoubtedly no discrimination 
as to the use of any particular species, or as to the application of the name to one 
more than to another. 
Fatal accidents long ago familiarised the countryman with the fact that some 
Hemlocks are certainly very poisonous. Fortunately most of these wild species are 
sufficiently unlike the Parsnips, Carrots, and Parsley of our gardens for no mistake to 
arise ; but they cannot be readily discriminated, and are, therefore, lumped together 
as dangerous w r eeds, at least for human beings, though many of the lower animals 
may eat some of them with avidity. 
The botanical tyro shares this popular dislike of the Umbelliferce because of the 
difficulty in distinguishing between the species, especially during the flowering season, 
when most outdoor study is practised. The main generic characters are, in fact, 
in their fruits ; and, even when these are examined in autumn, it must be admitted 
that the characters are by no means always easy to see with the naked eye or the 
pocket-lens, or to explain in the few words of a Flora. Their great length at once 
distinguishes the fruit of Scandix , as at present limited and among British species ; 
and the stiff bristles on their fruits, which give them the name of Bur-Parsley, 
separate off the genera Caucalis and Torilis ; but no such marked characters serve to 
separate Linne ’s genus Chcerophyllum from George Francis Hoffmann’s Anthriscus ; 
so that, even since that careful botanist published his “ Plantarum Umbelliferarum 
Genera” at Moscow in 1 8 1 6 , there have been considerable fluctuations in nomen- 
clature. One source of this confusion was the fact that Curt Sprengel was at work 
on the group at the same period, his “Plantarum Umbelliferarum Prodromus ” 
being published at Halle three years before Hoffmann’s work, and his “ Species 
Umbelliferarum ” in i 8 i 8. 
We prefer, therefore, to follow in this matter Babington’s “ Manual ” and 
Messrs. Britten and Rendle’s “ List,” rather than Hooker’s “ Student’s Flora,” and 
