BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
167 
GENUS XVIII. 
THE STONE-PARSLEY. (Seseli, Koch.) 
Lin. Syst. PENTANDRIA DIGYNIA. 
Description, &c.— The only British species of this genus has never been found but on the Gogmagog Hills 
near Cambridge. The meaning of the word Seseli seems doubtful. 
GENUS XIX. 
THE WATER-DROPWORT. ((Enanthe, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst, PENTANDRIA DIGYNIA. 
Generic Character _Calyx five-toothed. Petals obovate, emar 
ginate, indexed. Fruit nearly taper, crowned by the erect styles. 
Carpels with five rather convex, obtuse ridges, of which the lateral 
form a margin, and are rather broader than the others. Channels with 
single vittffi. Seed taper, convex. Axis wanting.—Universal involu- 
crum sometimes wanting; partial many-leaved. Flowers white. (Lindt.) 
Description, &c.— The common Water-Drop wort (CE. fistulosa) is a perennial plant, which is common in 
every ditch, and remarkable for its hollow stem, and for the tubular footstalks and midribs of its leaves. When 
the seed begins to form, the styles, which are rigid and persistent, become so much elongated as to make the 
seed-vessels look like burs. This plant is generally considered poisonous ; but not so much so as the common 
Water-Hemlock (CE. crocata), which is one of the most deadly of all the vegetable poisons, and which is 
particularly dangerous, as it closely resembles celery. The name of (Enanthe is derived from two Greek words, 
signifying a vine-flower ; in allusion to the smell of the flowers, which resembles that of wine. 
GENUS XX. 
THE HARE’S-EAR. (Bupleurum, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. PENTANDRIA DIGYNIA. 
Generic Character. —Calyx an obsolete margin. Petals roundish, 
entire, closely involute, with a broad retuse segment. Fruit com¬ 
pressed at the side, crowned by the depressed disk. Carpella with five 
equal winged ridges, either sharp and filiform, or very slight and 
obsolete ; the lateral ones forming a margin. Channels with or 
without vittae. Seed taper, convex, flattish in front.—Involucra 
various. Flowers greenish-yellow. Leaves entire. ( Lindley.) 
Description, &c. —This genus is somewhat remarkable, as containing the only ligneous plant in the order, 
though it is not a British species; and also because the species that are natives of this country are so extremely 
unlike Umbelliferous plants, as to render it difficult to suppose they can belong to the order. The leaves of all 
the species are simple, and without the slightest serrature, instead of being deeply cut into slender segments, as is 
general in plants belonging to this order. The name of Bupleurum is derived from two Greek words, signifying 
the rib of an ox; in allusion to the ribbed leaves of some of the species. The English name of Hare’s-ear 
alludes to the shape of some of the leaves. 
1.—THE COMMON HARE’S-EAR, OR THOROW-WAX. (Bupleurum rotundifolium, Lin.) 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot. t. 99; 2nd ed., t. 400; and our fig. 7, in Pi. 38. 
Specific Character. — Universal involucrum wanting. Loaves perfoliate. (Lindley.) 
Description, &c.— This is an annual plant, growing in calcareous soils in many parts of England, but 
which is seldom found in very great abundance. The leaves are perfoliate, that is, the stem appears to grow 
