88 “ELEMENTARY BOTANY 
The wall of the fruit has canals filled with an oily sub- 
stance; the seeds are albuminous. 
Bee 1. The leaves are usually coarse and pinnately 
teristics of divided. 
ye 2. The inflorescence is usually a compound 
umbel, hence the name of the Order. 
3. The flowers are small and white. 
4. The gynecium is inferior. 
5. The fruit is a schizocarp. 
Although the Order is quite easily recognised, the identifi- 
cation of the genera which belong to it 1s far more difficult, 
for the distinctions between them depend on minute differ- 
ences in the fruit and seed, such, for instance, as the number 
‘of the oil canals, the presence or absence of ridges in the 
fruit, ete. : 
This Order is largely visited by insects, for its honey is 
exposed, and therefore easily accessible. Then the flowers, 
though usually minute, are crowded together in umbels ; this 
renders them conspicuous, and allows of many being fertilised 
at the same time. As regards frequency of insect visits, this 
Order ranks next to the Composite, but the honey is not so 
well protected from rain, therefore the arrangements for 
pollination have reached a greater state of perfection in the 
Composite than in the Umbellifere. | 
Many of the Umbelliferse are used for food ; for instance, 
the root of Carrot and Parsnip, the leaf-stalks of Celery, the 
seeds of Caraway and Coriander ; but, as a rule, the Umbel- 
liferee are poisonous. 
All over the world, especially in West Asia 
and along the Mediterranean. The Order is 
less abundant in the tropics and northern latitudes. 
Distribution. 
COMPOSIT AL. 
The so-called flowers of the plants belonging to this Order 
are all inflorescences ; the true flowers are sessile on a dilated, 
flattened receptacle, protected by an involucre of bracts, 
