THE UMBELLIFERS. 9

...bearing a small composite [umbel]. It produces seeds in pairs that are long, compressed, and ribbed, with a somewhat bitter taste imitating cumin and smelling of something aromatic; if these are chewed, they warm the mouth moderately and stimulate the flow of saliva.

Location & time.

Names.

We call it Laserwort with Columbine leaves original: "Siler aquilegiæ foliis". It is listed as Broad-leaved Frankincense-herb with Columbine leaves original: "Libanotis latifolia aquilegiæ folio" in Caspar Bauhin’s Prodromus and in Parkinson. It is the Ethiopian Sesame original: "Seseli Æthiopicum" of Camerarius; and the Lovage with Rauwolf’s Columbine leaves original: "ligusticum, Rawolffii foliis aquilegiæ" of Johann Bauhin, who provides an incomplete illustration of it.

Temperament & powers.

Angelica. It has large leaves that are lobed at the base and divided into three parts (in the manner of the plants previously described), sometimes more and sometimes less divided, attached to small branches with one leaf always closing the tip. If the stalks or leaves are broken, they pour out a scent pleasing to the nostrils. The seeds are much shorter than those of the preceding plants and more fragrant; they are gifted with deeper ridges or furrows—that is, the "wings" or chaffy, membrane-like ridges are raised higher than in any other Umbellifers endowed with large, ribbed seeds.

1. The first is the cultivated or apothecary’s Angelica, so called from its cultivation, scent, taste, and the saffron-colored juice that flows when it is cut. It is known even to "the bleary-eyed and the barbers" original: "lippis & tonsoribus," a Latin idiom meaning "everyone knows it," even those with poor sight or common folk at the barbershop; therefore, we shall not linger long in assigning its common characteristics (which it shares with others); you may see the plant cultivated in gardens.

2. The second is the wild Angelica, because it flourishes in damp woods or comes forth on the banks of streams and in marshy places. It is similar to the cultivated kind in every way, except that its scent and taste are not so powerful, and it yields much to the cultivated kind in fragrance. In its leaves, seeds, and all other parts (excepting color and smallness), it is a rival to the cultivated type.

3. The third is the Mountain Wild Angelica, or Archangelica, according to Clusius. This plant surpasses the cultivated one in the size of its leaves and the frequent number of individual leaflets. The small branches of this plant provide a great many leaves. The seed is broad, longer, and thicker; the root is deep. The leaves and stems possess a faint and obscure scent. If anyone wishes to make this and the "Wild Mountain" variety into the same species, differing only by birth-place, I shall not object. However, if someone brings forward a plant with a yellow Umbel (as Lobelius maintains), it will undoubtedly be a distinct species.

4. The fourth is the Shining Canadian Angelica of Cornut. It is very easily distinguished from the others at first sight because it bears shining leaves (its stem barely reaches a cubit about 18 inches in height); they are so glossy that they appear to anyone looking at them to be coated in birdlime or some other shining liquid.

5. The fifth is called Goutweed original: "podagraria" from its effect [against gout]. It is easily distinguished from the aforementioned by its root, which spreads itself through the earth, and its black seed, which is smaller than the seeds of the others in its class and wrinkled, with ridges visible only when a Microscope is applied. Indeed, among the Umbellifers (excepting Bishop's Weed, Masterwort, and a few others), a creeping root is a unique characteristic. Its seed is black and oblong, half the size of the preceding ones, perhaps due to a lack of nourishment, since nature is so intent on its multiplication via the roots creeping underground.

Location & time.

The first, Cultivated Angelica, grows spontaneously in Scandinavia, Norway, and the high Alps covered in perpetual snow. The second, the Wild kind, grows in damp woods and in the marshy margins of brooks and the banks of rivers. The third in the Alpine regions...