A New Distribution of Umbelliferous Plants

THE UMBELLIFERS. 12

The second species of this genus original: "Smyrnium" is very easily distinguished from the first because of the root it sends down into the earth, which is turnip-shaped napiformem: shaped like a turnip or "napus" in the first year after germination, and sometimes in the second. Furthermore, it should be noted that nature plays a wondrous game in the arrangement of this plant's leaves: for the first leaves it produces, which are spread across the ground, are deeply incised in many ways in the manner of marsh parsley original: "apii palustris"; those which grow immediately from the root are saw-toothed serrated around their edges; but those which sit below the branching of the small stalks are of a circular roundness, like perfoliate leaves perfoliatæ: where the stem appears to pass through the center of the leaf, being pierced or bored through by the stalk and branches. It bears seed that is dark or brownish-black, somewhat round, similar to the seed of the great cabbage. Among all the Umbellifers, one cannot find another similar to this because of the marvelous variation of the lower leaves spread on the ground and the upper leaves, or "wings," which embrace the stems below in the shape of a saucer, as seen in the Honeysuckle original: "Periclymeno". The seeds of both the larger species and this one are marked by three prominent ridges original: "striis, seu carinis" and deeper grooves; they are black, wrinkled, warm, and highly aromatic.

Place & time.

The first grows in the islands adjacent to that most powerful and flourishing island where we first drew breath, Great Britain. The second was brought to us from the island of Crete.

Names.

The first is called Smyrnium by Mattioli, Dalechamps, and Camerarius; Alexandrian Parsley original: "Petroselinum Alexandrinum" by Tragus; Horse-parsley original: "Hipposelinum" by Fuchs and Dodoens; Common Horse-parsley or Smyrnium by Parkinson; and Smyrnium with large black seed or Macerone by Jean Bauhin. The second is Cretan Smyrnium by Mattioli, Dalechamps, Camerarius, Gerard, and Parkinson; Smyrnium of Mount Amanus by Dodoens; and Another perfoliate plant by Dalechamps.

Temperament & virtues.

The first is of a warm and dry temperament. It excels Angelica and Lovage in pungency and heat, and in its power to expel; in other respects, they have similar properties. See Jean Bauhin, page 124, Volume 3, Part 2, Column 1, who treats there at length the use of Smyrnium among the ancients. Regarding the larger ridged seeds of the aforementioned Umbellifers, consult the general Table of seed illustrations Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Sf. For the lobed leaves of the Umbellifers in this group, see Table of Illustrations 4, where Lovage and Masterwort are offered as examples of all other lobed Umbellifers of this branch.

SMALLER LOBED UMBELLIFERS,

A taxonomic classification list of Umbelliferæ species, using nested curly braces to group subspecies and varieties under the genera Pimpinella and Sium. Botanical symbols for plant life cycles (annual ☉ and perennial ♃) follow many entries.

Skirret. ☉ original: "Sifarum," likely Sium sisarum

Burnet-saxifrage original: "Pimpinella saxifraga"

{ Greater, Large Goat-parsley of Tabernaemontanus. ☉
{ Another greater, degenerate. ☉IG
{ Lesser. ☉
{ Lesser curly, Rock Goat-parsley of Tabernaemontanus. ☉

Stone-parsley. ♃ original: "Sison"

Water-parsnip original: "Sium"

{ Land or cornfield water-parsnip. ♃
{ Aquatic

{ Broad-leaved. ☉
{ Narrow-leaved. ☉
{ Flowering at the wings axils. ☉IG
{ { With wrinkled, many-cleft, and toothed leaves. ☉
{ Dwarf, with Fennel-like leaves. ♃IG