252 
UjrBKLI.IFEK.E. 
Mollugo. 
the lobes more or less purple : stamens many. — Rohrbaeh in Mart. FI. Bras. xiv 2 . 
310, t. 70. : . 
A very variable species, widely distributed around the globe. It has been collected near Fort 
Mohave ( Cooper ), and is frequent in saline or alkaline valleys through the interior from N. Nevada 
to Colorado and New Mexico, often with much broader leaves than is usual in the sea-coast forms. 
3. MOLLUGO, Linn. Carpet-weed. 
Calyx 5-cleft nearly to the base ; the lobes herbaceous, membranously margined. 
Petals none. Stamens 3 or 5, rarely twice as many, hypogynous. Styles 3. Cap¬ 
sule free, thin-membranaceous, 3 - 5-celled, locuUeidally 3-5-valved, the partitions 
breaking away from the persistent central placenta. Seeds several in each cell, 
longitudinally sulcate on the back.—Annuals, low and much branched, glabrous, 
not succulent; leaves linear to obovate-spatulate, entire, opposite and apparently 
verticillate ; stipules obsolete ; flowers mostly on long pedicels and axillary. 
About a dozen species in the warmer regions of the globe. The following is the only one in¬ 
digenous to N. America. 
1. M. verticillata, Linn. Prostrate, covering the ground, slender : leaves spat- 
ulate to linear-oblanceolate, an inch long or less : pedicels umbellately fascicled at 
the nodes, slender, 2 or 3 lines long : sepals and oblong-ovoid capsule about 1J lines 
long : seeds reniform, shining. —- Rohrbaeh, 1. c. 240, t. 55. 
On light sandy soils from the Columbia River southward ; at Eagle Creek, near Shasta, and 
at McCumber’s Flat {Brewer, Newberry) ; from Arizona to Colorado and New Mexico, and fre¬ 
quent in the Atlantic States as a weed in cultivated'grounds : thence southward to the W. Indies 
and Brazil. 
Order XLV. UMBELLIFERiE. 
Herbs with small flowers in umbels (sometimes contracted into heads), five epi- 
gynous stamens and petals, and two styles; the calyx adnate to the 2-eelled ovary, 
which contains a solitary ovule suspended from "the summit of each cell; and the 
fruit splitting into a pair of dry seed-like indehiscent carpels. Seed with a minute 
embryo, in hard albumen. Petals mostly valvate in the bud. Stem commonly 
hollow. Leaves mainly alternate, mostly compound, often decompound : the petiole, 
expanded or sheathing at base. Umbels usually themselves umbellate, forming a 
compound umbel: this is then usually called the umbel, and the partial umbels are 
called umbel lets. The bracts under the general umbel, when present, form an invo¬ 
lucre ; those under the umbellets, an involucel. > The enlarged base of the styles, or 
the common base of the two, takes the name of stylopodium: it is often surrounded 
by or confluent with an epigynous disk. Each of the two carpels is commonly 
traversed by 5 longitudinal ribs : in the intervals between them are usually lodged 
one or more longitudinal canals containing aromatic oil, the vittce or oil-tubes. The 
face by which the two carpels cohere is the commissure: a slender prolongation of 
the axis between them is the carpophore: it is apt to split into two branches, a 
carpel suspended for some time from the tip of each. 
A family of almost 200 genera and much above a thousand species, dispersed over all parts of 
the world, but abundant only in warm, temperate, or cooler regions. Many are poisonous (Hem¬ 
lock, Water-Hemlock, &c.) : others afford esculent roots (Parsnip, Carrot), or their herbage may 
be eaten after blanching (Celery) ; several are innocent and aromatic (Dill, Fennel), at least the 
fruits (Caraway, Anise, &c.). 
Missouri 
Botanical 
Garden 
23456 7 89 10 
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