UMBELLIFERS.

The polypetalous corolla, dichlamydeous flowers, inferior fruit, and large solitary seed, and small embryo lying in a large quantity of albumen, are the distinctive characters of the Umbelliferous

exogens.

CCXCVI. Umbelliferæ.—Herbaceous, rarely shrubby plants, with solid and cylindrical, sometimes fistular and furrowed stem; alternate leaves, rarely opposite or entire, sometimes simple, sheathing at the base; flowers in umbels, generally surrounded by an involucre; calyx, five-toothed, adhering to the ovary; corolla with five petals; stamens five, inserted alternately with the petals in the top of calyx; fruit, two carpels, separating into two parts near the base.

cha gSanne shrubs, rarely herbaceous, sometimes sinbing pans; leaves ate, without stipules, but with foot-stalks ening at base and| sheathing flowers h erm aphr‘0lite 3 calyx adherentages he CCXCVII, Araliacee.with fi ber, Fechita ives fatle: and satan with them on tl y; fruit a berry.

Trees or shrubs, sorake herbaceous; seanen opposite, rely simple |x oralternate; flowers sconppr gebagei occasionally ual by abor. tion: capitate, umbellate,o corymbs;"ealye paheret: corolla CCXCVIII. Cornacee. with four petals; stamens seul in number oabayues“aewith them, inserted in the orifice of the calyx; fru

Shrubs or small trees, with alternate a 7 siaaves and stipules, both gr yaaa flowers small, herinaphrodite, unisexual by abortion: calyxadherent to the ovary: pa rei he ee inserted in and CCXCIX. Hamamelidacee. alternating ah the lies of the calyx; sta’ eight, four of which, pees agedwith the petals, are fertile; four’Gomeks to them without

iethtan heath-like shrubs, with small, alternate entire leaves,: witha stipules; flowers small, hermaphrodi te, capitate, panicled, or; terminal; calyxadherent to the ovary, nearly ‘tree 5 corolla with five CCC, Brunoniacee. imbricate petals; stamens five, alternate with the petals, Lnerinesy in the throat of the ovary. This important group of exogens, which is familiarly represented by the Hemlocks, Wild Celery, Parsleys, and Fennels, rises into importance when we come to consider the singular forms which the order assumes in the Astrantia, Eryngium, and Leucolena, where, instead of the hollow, fistular, and reeded stem of the Hemlock, they become solid, branching bushes, with panicled flowers, and the inconspicuous involucre of Znanthe becomes great white three-lobed plates surrounding the flower in Leuco rotundifolia. The arrangement of the Umbelliferze has received great attention from botanists, and De Candolle has published a Memoir which is generally received as a satisfactory solution;the development of the ribs of the fruit, the presence or absence of reservoirs of oil, called Vitte, and the form of the albumen being the leading features of his arrangement. “It must be obvious, however, be every botanist,” says Dr. Lindley, “that the genera and tribes are alike unsatisfactory, and that the arrangement of Umbellifers upon sound principles still remains to be achieved.”:

The following is a brief view of the mesaiese proposed by De Candolle:—

SuB-ORDER I. ORTHASPERM£ me

Albumen flattishin the interior;umbels simple; fruit wi out vitte.

TR I. TYLES. F rnit ine ga avis with five primary ribs; pet entire; including 4g Pte Leucolenas, Bowlesias, and Azorella, of warmer climates, _ White Rot or Pennywort — vuiguris) of our own marshes.

sh _ stacks, which thetstat experiencile eye might doubt, so pBraaey are they at variance with t ge umbels, The Mulinew chiefly belong to the southern hemisphere, having 90 representative,

nas BE III. SANIcuLE#. Ovate glopbsilons,wets carpels with five primary ribs, sili vittee; sadery ribs covered with scales; peta note ard= -_bag ook including ‘hata, hare ee and racemes of flowers are substiitedfor a Wood-sanic e ( Saniculaael peaoethe Erir ee the Starworts (A. ta), meanare Britieh faseve argsof tth iano pay MINES. Fruit did nase with five thread-like ribs, which become winged aas: yilndricatGor tegrog on one side,eft 0m the other;, Parsnips, and Skirrets

(Stum), the Earth nut (Bunium), the Anise, or Burnet Saxifrages (Pimpinella).

TRIBE V, SESELINE&. Fruit nearly eiiletioal: carpels Poss A compressed, with five threadlike oFwingeed nibs “incluree. gpsAnes, or Horza ca, 2g and ee aecapensis, both acceptable t pe, and Meum, w weet aro ts form an hey Yonain Vene!ian renee; sumibies (Ehuhetcin Masttintiny.¢the.Dreswenth (Cininthe, ~ Lichtenst pyrethrifolia, from the roots of which the Hottentots prepare an intoxicating beve

TRIBE VI. ANGELICE&. Fruit coinpressed dorsally;carpels five-ribbed;at debe ribs, threadlike orwinged, twonera lateral and peeps into broader wings. This group includes Angelica root (4Archon, elica psec bapa and sweet when first tasted, but pungent and bitter, leavinga glow-e. TRIBE wat, cae Fruit, compressed dorsally; carpels with five thread-like limbs; fruit with one wing on each pr fattened; including the Hog’s Fennels (Peucedanum), the typical genus.

TriBE VIII. TorpyLiuM, or Hartworts, have the compressed fruit girded by dilated margin; ribs dninoay:visible. TRIBE IX. ee: Carpels with five primary ribs, the side one emarginate, the secondary one less prominen

TRIBE X. pec The fruit contracted laterally;carpels with five thread-like primary ribs, the lateral ones marginating with four secondary, all wingless. These three sections include only a few genera, which are only known in Britain as at plants, and scarcely that. Cummin (Cuminum ce formerly used in medicine, is now confinedto veterinary practice.

TRIBE XI. THaP. Fruit coimy rsally;carpels with five thread-like primary ribs, some- PS bristly, la eek mie ¢on the comm ur secondaries, thread- Boel the outer _ all winged. Of the Zhapsie there is no British spec “pgp ele sylphium, a native of North America, was also known to the egret as ying the& “juicecalled Silphium, in the ne ighibourhood of psiaetad Lase-patichat aromatic, ulating.

TRIBE XII. DaucipE”. ees dorsally; carpels with five bristly ech eats ribs, t ne iateeal ones on the setfacete foe secondaries ominent, and gp; seeds flattish, inclined to etindateal includes the Carro t (Daucus carota), whichiscommone'aoees by the way-side in its wild state, where its umbels formee vh nameit is sometimes called.

Laces rae e CAMPYLOSPERM..

TRIBE XIII, ELzostne&. Fruit cylindrical, compressed from.the back; carpels furnished with primary iad ayn ohpe oh the two dorsals, secondaries, nerve-formed; the two laterals expanded into wings, with th aved.

Pecig ime apUCALID. tracted from the de; éarpels with five thread-like prick! mary gf og and four selena cinesled the latter prominent oa prickly; seeds involuie; includes the Sasnao ( Caucalis), and the Hedge Parsleys ( Zorids).

E XV. ScANDICE#. Fruit compressed laterally, usually beaked; carpelswith primaryribs ealy:‘wingedlateral ribs, aioeall equal, obliterated at the base, but ee at the apex; on the margin; Anthriscus, conv: €X, Wil cepjae in front, involute ororBeakodParsleys, poragg Pasay, and Chervils (Cherophylium), Sweet Cicely aporke), and Shep- Soondi TRIBE XV. NE, Fruit inflated, com laterally;carpels with five primary ribs only, later ones ot suresseeds involute, or fo,comprennedreally, crescent Sadfirey vernal ve some por’ tnaous plahts whole cig edof the v e being the eee Hemlock {Conca. Atvealatum bane,or Watereniook (Cienta virosa), isnot — deadly, Some of the genera, however Aracucha esculenta, an inhabitant of the tableland of Grena has esculent roots“ike the Feleniy, but superior to it; and Prangos pabu-lari, a ae santo thearid plainsof southern Tartary, is a favourite with the herdsof sheep Which grazeonthe plains.

hagSites EGA Srepmecsiesesepaat

Ally ” Trine XVIT CoRIANDRE®. Fruit glebose,or oftwo globose cna, furnished with five depressed and flexuose ribs, all group incindes the sees ( sativum), it which the xgsinous and uromatic principle, which gives thea aaa somewhat foetid odour when merely bruised, gives the fruit a fragrant and aromatic ofsagle The Umpentirer® thus include an immense variety of vegetable forms, some of them yielding valuable contributions to the

table, others deadly poisons when improperly used, but all of them offering interesting objects for botanical study. We shall take a cursory glance at the more interesting species, taking them at random as they present themselves. The genus Angelica, with which we commence our remarks, is so named from angelus, an angel, having reference to the supposed angelic properties of the

Fig. 445.—Angelica. several species. The Anyelicee are plants with pinnately de compound leaves, compound umbels of white, pale, pink flowers the fruit surrounded by a double ring. The Garden rer (Archangelica officinalis), formerly largely cultivated on actount of: aromatic pungent leaf stalks (Fig. 445), is a pretty herbaceous plant, indigenous in the mountains of the south and east of France oe and probably in England; it is tap-rooted, the root rather volo e

nous. Its bluish green stem attains the height of three feet and upwards. This stem is tumid or hollow, as are the petioles of the leaves, which are large, doubly compound, and serrated. The flowers form little umbellicles, disposed again in umbels; they are small, and of a greenish colour. The calyx presents a limb formed of five very small teeth. The corolla is composed of five petals, free, elliptic, entire, curved; from within it has five stamens, dorsally attached to the filaments, and alternating with the projecting petals, opening from within by two longitudinal clefts. The pistil is composed of an inferior ovary, surmounted by two spreading styles, terminated by a small ovoid stigma. This ovary is two-celled, each cell enclosing a suspended anatropal ovule. When at maturity, the fruit, which is winged, constitutes two achenz, one for each cell, all of which finally separate, and remain suspended at the extremity of the two filaments, which are prolongations of the receptacle. Each achena encloses one seed, formed almost entirely of horny albumen, towards the upper oe of which a small cylindrical embryo is enclosed.

The family of the Umbelliferze is one of the most important of the vegetable world, as well for the number of the species which compose it, as for the medicinal and economic properties which belong to the different species. One of the characteristic traits in the organisation of the Umbelliferee consists in the presence of reservoirs or canals within the fruit, which contain aromatic volatile oils.

The Angelica (Archangelica officinalis), which we have just been examining, contains an aromatic and stimulating juice in abundance; it is principally cultivated for the confectioners, who prepare a preserve from the young stems, which are candied with sugar and perfumed, to neutralise the bitterness and acridity of the plant. The Wood Archangel (A. sylvestris), which grows wild on banks of rivers, and in wet and marshy places, contains analogous properties, but in a less degree. The same is the case with the Imperial Angelica and the Master Wort.

A greater number of the Umbelliferse, which are cultivated in all parts of Europe, furnish fruits with a hot and aromatic flavour, which have been employed from time immemorial as condiments. Such are the Aniseed (Pimpenella anisum), Cummin (Cuminum

Cyminum), Dill (Anethum graveolens), Coriander (coriandrum sativum), Caraway (Carum carvi), Fennel (Feniculum vulgare), &c. Several of the Umbelliferze occupy important places in our. kitchen gardens. The root of the Wild Carrot (Daucus carota), so common in our fields, is small, heavy, fibrous, and of an acrid flavour. In its wild state this root cannot be eaten, but under the influence of culture it becomes fleshy, voluminous, feeculent, and sweet, while retaining its aromatic flavour.

The Parsnip (Pastinacea sativa) grows spontaneously in the fields of all parts of Europe. Like the Carrot it is tap-rooted, and culture has rendered it alimentary, but the flesh is doughy, and slightly bitter. Smallage (Apium graveolens), when cultivated, takes the name of Celery. Its roots in the wild state are acrid and strongly odorous, but under the influence of culture they acquire a sweeter flavour. When its long petioles have been softened, and had the. colour taken from them by blanching, that is, by the plant remaining in the dark, they are considered one of the luxuries of the table. Parsley (Petroselinum sativum), indigenous to the South of Europe, is now cultivated chiefly for the sake of its leaves; the same is the case with the Chervil (Sandise cerefolium).

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