SPOTTED HEMLOCK.

1061

'onf 4 *^ le H° m ans. Especially careful should tlie student be not tot 0 ^° Ull d Conium maculatum with Cicuta maculata. It is certainly muchjf r ^/pgretted that such a ground of confusion should exist, but I amit is now too late to obviate it.

iate° rAXY . Gen. Char. —Margin of the calyx obsolete. Petals obcor-fr e ’ Soi, iewhat emarginate, with a very short indexed lobe. Fruit com-at dle s i ( i R > ovate. Mericarps [half-fruits] with live, prominent,Mth ated > crenulated, equal ridges, the lateral ones marginal. Channelshw K * an y striae, but no vittae. Carpophorus bifid at the apex. Seedbi en . with a deep narrow groove, and confounded with it.—European ,If nia l> poisonous herbs. Root fusiform. Stem round, branched,i- es decompound. Both partial and general involucres, three to five

* ea ved.

> partial one, halved. Flowers white, all fertile (D. C.)

—Leaflets of the partial involucre lanceolate. Partial umbel

llo ^ ^ )

O biennial, tap-shaped, fusiform, whitish, from six to twelve inchesto^’, Soitle wh a t resembling a young parsnip. Stem from 2 to 6 feet high,fw ’ Sl aooth, glaucous, shining, hollow, spotted with purple. Leaves tri-onv "lanceolate, pinnatifid leaflets, of a dark and shining green

the smooth, very fetid when bruised, with long, furrowed footstalks,l " n g at their base. Umbels of many general as well as partial rays.% 0) involucre of several (usually three to seven) leadets: partiali‘ei ( ^ Cre °f three leadets on one side. Margin of calyx obsolete.

S l* Ve , white, obcordate, with indexed points. Stamina dve, epigv-as the petals. Ovarium ovate, two-celled, striated; stylesf aC hfor m, spreading; stigma round. Fruit ovate, compressed late-m/,’ 'Mericarps (half-fruits) with five primary, but no secondary, ridges,

'Utjj.

ar e undulato-crenated; the channels have many striae, but no

yyj Seed with a deep, hollow groove in front.

y ?jr~~~Indigenous; hedges and waste ground, especially near towns[iiltiy 1 ° es - In other parts of Europe , the East of Asia, and in theparts of North America and Chili, into which it has been

In

need.

st .' n guishing Conium maculatum from other Umbelliferce, the following charac-

'N si]}"- attended to :—The large, round, smooth, spotted stem; the smooth, dark,/'’’'g green colour of the lower leaves; the general involucre of from three tojjSiary . ls 5 the partial involucre of three leaflets ; the fruit with undulated crenatedi r )dges. To these must be added, that the whole herb, when bruised, has a* c smell (compared by some to that of mice, by others to that of fresh can-. He ; n °r. of cats’ urine).

j fr ‘, Qjj, Q, genous Umbelliferee most likely to be confounded with Conium maculatum,X* Usa Cynap ium and Anthriscus vulgaris. (Ethusa Cynapium, or Fool’s Parsley,, e nMe’ U,S ' le d from hemlock by its smaller size, by the absence of the strong disa-which distinguishes the leaves of hemlock, by the want of a general>i Ucre - by the three long, narrow, unilateral, pendulous leaflets composing the partiali 1 ' p re ’ cy the ridges of the fruit being entire (i. e. not undulate or creuate), and by^tn, ‘C"— " ‘ “

'Op h -'-•n.

t)

p r J Ule nages ot the truit being’ entire {% . e. not undulate or creuate;, and by° c k K Ce Anthriscus vulgaris, or Common Beaked-Parsley, is known from

*■- s , “y the paler colour and slight hairiness of the leaves, by the absence of spotsby the swelling under each joint, by the absence of a general involucre, bya re b 6SS ' fruit, and by the absence of a strong unpleasant odour when the

5 lt° uld t’tPTioN.—The leaves (folia conii) only are officinal. They

’bei

^e ta ;J atl i ered from wild plants, just before the time, or at the com-G ” 1 of flowering. If intended for drying, the larger stalks