The flower is regular, ☿, and _completely epigynous_, 5- or 4-merous,
with =1= whorl of stamens and 5–2 carpels. _Sepals very small,
tooth-like._ The _corolla is polypetalous, most frequently valvate in
æstivation_ (least pronounced in the Umbelliferous plants). Round the
base of the styles, which are generally free, there is an _epigynous_
(undivided, or divided) _nectar-disc_ (“stylar-foot”: Figs. 528 _B_,
_C_, _D_; 539); the number of loculi in the ovary equals that of the
carpels; _only =1= pendulous (anatropous) ovule_ (Fig. 528 _C_) _in
each loculus_. Endosperm copious (Fig. 528 _D_). To this must be added
that the inflorescence in the majority of cases is an _umbel_ or a
capitulum, especially in the _Umbelliferæ_ and _Araliaceæ_. Stipules
are absent, but most frequently the base of the petiole forms a large
sheath.
The Umbellifloræ are on one side so closely allied to the
Frangulinæ, especially Rhamnaceæ, that they may perhaps be
regarded as the epigynous continuation of this family. On
the other hand, the similarities to the Rubiales, especially
those between Cornaceæ and Sambuceæ, are so great that there
is scarcely any character to distinguish them except the
polypetalous corolla of the former and the gamopetalous corolla
of the latter. Whether this is more than a merely analogous
resemblance, and if not, whether the Cornaceæ at least should
not be included in the Rubiales, must be left in abeyance.--The
sepals are very small, as is generally the case in epigynous
flowers.
Order 1. =Cornaceæ.= The majority of the species are shrubs with solid
internodes, _opposite_ (rarely scattered) leaves, which are _simple_,
_entire_ (rarely incised), penninerved, _without_ stipules or large
sheaths; flowers _=4=-merous_ (most frequently S4, P4, A4, G2), borne
in dichasia which are either collected into corymbs (_e.g._ _Cornus
sanguinea_), or in closely crowded umbels or capitula (_Cornus mas_,
_C. suecica_), in which latter case there is often a _large_, leafy, or
coloured, most frequently 4-leaved _involucre_ round the base of the
inflorescence; the _style is undivided_, with lobed stigma; the raphe
of the ovule is turned _outwards_. The fruit is a _berry_ or a _drupe_,
with a 1–4-locular stone or 2 free stones.
_Cornus_ (Dogwood, Cornel) has S4, P4, A4, G2. Leaves opposite.
_Drupe_ with a bilocular, 2-seeded stone.--_Aucuba_, diœcious;
unilocular ovary; 1 ovule; 1-seeded berry.--_Garrya._--_Helwingia._
80 species; N. Temp. The fruits of _Cornus mas_ are edible;
the wood is very hard; gum is found in some. Several species
of _Cornus_ and _Aucuba japonica_ (Japan) are cultivated as
ornamental shrubs.
Order 2. =Araliaceæ (Ivies).= Principally _trees_ or _shrubs_ with
_solid stems_. The leaves are _scattered_, simple or compound, with
a sheath more or less developed. The flowers are most frequently
situated in umbels or capitula which are either borne singly or in
racemes, or in paniculate inflorescences. The small, most frequently
yellowish-green flowers are =5=-_merous_, in the calyx, corolla, and
andrœcium; the gynœceum may be 5-merous or may have some other number
(=2=-∞). The styles are most frequently several, free; the _raphe_
of the ovules is turned _inwards_ as in the Umbelliferous plants.
The fruit is a _drupe_ or _berry_.--~Stellate hairs often occur. The
petals generally have a broad base, and a thick apex which is slightly
incurved, and a distinctly valvate æstivation.~
_Hedera helix_ (Ivy) climbs by adventitious roots. The leaves are
palminerved and lobed on the sterile branches, but often ovate and not
lobed on the flowering branches. ~The flowers are yellowish-green and
open in the autumn; they are slightly protandrous, and are visited by
flies and wasps. Berries black. Endosperm ruminate.--_Panax._ _Aralia_
(with _Dimorphanthus_).~
375 species, 51 genera; especially in the Tropics (E.
Asia).--The Ivy, several species of _Aralia_, _e.g._ _A.
japonica_ (_Fatsia_), _Gastonia palmata_, are cultivated as
ornamental plants. Paper is manufactured from the pith of
_Aralia papyrifera_ (China).
Order 3. =Umbelliferæ.= _The stem is herbaceous_ with _hollow
internodes_; the leaves are _scattered_, and have a broad, amplexicaul
base, a _large, most frequently inflated sheath_, and generally a
pinnate (often very much dissected) blade. ~Entire leaves are found in
_Hydrocotyle vulgaris_; _Bupleurum_.~
The flowers are ☿, regular, small, but collected in _compound umbels_,
that is, in “simple umbels,” which again are borne in umbels (for
exceptions see _Hydrocotyleæ_); the external flowers in the simple
umbel have often subtending bracts, which surround the base as an
_involucre_, and may be termed the _small involucre_; the internal ones
have no bracts; when involucral leaves are present at the base of the
compound umbel, they may be termed the _large involucre_.
[Illustration: FIG. 528.--_Daucus carota_ with flower and fruit.]
The _flower_ has =5= sepals (the median, as usual, posterior), =5=
petals, =5= stamens and =2= carpels (in the median line) (Fig. 528).
The calyx is often scarcely indicated. The petals have a short claw
are most frequently obcordate, or have an incurved apex (Fig. 528 _B_,
_C_), being incurved in the bud; they are white, rarely yellow (Fennel
and Parsnips), blue or red. The flowers are sometimes zygomorphic,
especially those on the circumference of the umbel, and in that case
it is the petal which is directed outside (anterior) which is the
largest, and the two posterior are the smallest (_e.g. Heracleum_).
The stamens are _incurved_ in the bud. The 2 _free styles_ unite at
the base into the “stylar-foot” (_stylopod_), a swollen nectary (Fig.
528 _B_, _C_); the ovary is bilocular, the raphe of the ovules being
directed inwards. _The fruit is a schizocarp_, _dividing into two
mericarps_; the plane in which these separate coincides with that of
the union of the carpels, and the two _nut-like mericarps_ are in
most genera kept together for awhile at the top of a thin, bifid, or
undivided stalk (_carpophore_) which is in direct continuation with
the flower-stalk (Fig. 537). Each mericarp has most frequently 5 more
or less strongly projecting ridges, the _primary ridges_ (Figs. 530,
532, 534, 535, etc.), of which 3 lie on the back of the mericarp, the
_dorsal ridges_, and 2 on its edge near the plane of division, the
_marginal ridges_; five of these (10 ridges in all in the entire fruit)
are placed opposite the calyx-teeth and the others between them. In
some genera there are in addition 4 _secondary ridges_ to each mericarp
between the primary ones (Fig. 528 _E_: the secondary ridges bear the
long bristles). Inside these secondary ridges, or inside the grooves
between the primary ridges, when the secondary ridges are absent, _oil
ducts_ (vittæ, schizogenous ducts) are found in the pericarp, most
frequently one in each groove; two are also often found on the ventral
side of each mericarp (Figs. 528 _E_, 530 _ol_, etc.). The seed is
most frequently united with the pericarp. The _embryo_ is _small_ and
lies high up in the large, most frequently horny endosperm (Fig. 528
_D_).--The endosperm _does not contain starch, but oil_, and presents
three different forms, of important systematic value: (=a=) those which
are quite flat on the ventral side (_i.e._ the side turned towards the
plane of splitting) (Figs. 528 _E_, 530, 531, 534, etc.): the majority
of the genera, ORTHOSPERMEÆ (_e.g._ _Carum_, _Pastinaca_); (=b=)
those in which the endosperm on the ventral side is provided with a
longitudinal groove, often deep: CAMPYLOSPERMEÆ (_e.g._ _Anthriscus_);
the transverse section is nearly a crescent (Fig. 532); (=c=) those
in which the endosperm is concave on the ventral side (hollow in
both longitudinal and transverse sections): CŒLOSPERMEÆ (_e.g._
_Coriandrum_) (Fig. 538).
The genera are distinguished first of all by the endosperm and
forms of fruit, the ridges and oil-ducts; then by the form of
the umbel, the calyx and corolla, by the absence or presence of
an involucre, etc.
[Illustration: FIG. 529.--_Hydrocotyle vulgaris._ Transverse
section of fruit.]
1. HYDROCOTYLEÆ, PENNY-WORT GROUP. _Capitula_ or _simple umbels_
(all the other groups have compound umbels). No oil-ducts.
Orthospermous.--_Hydrocotyle_ (Penny-wort). The fruit is _considerably
compressed_ laterally (Fig. 529). The calyx-teeth are small. The leaves
are peltate.--_Didiscus._--_Sanicula_ (Sannicle). The umbels are small,
capitate, generally collected in a raceme; calyx-teeth distinct. ♂-and
♀-flowers in the same umbel. The fruits are round, studded with hooked
bristles. No carpophore.--_Astrantia_ has an umbel surrounded by a
large, often coloured involucre, with this exception it is the same
as the preceding, but the fruit is slightly compressed, with 5 equal
ridges. _Hacquetia_ (_Dondia_).--_Eryngium_ (Sea Holly): leaves often
thorny. The flowers _are all sessile_, the inflorescence is thus a
capitulum; each flower is often subtended by a bract, which is thorny
like the involucre, resembling the burrs of the Teasel. The sepals are
large.--~_Lagœcia_: one of the loculi of the ovary is suppressed.~
[Illustration: FIG. 530.--Fruit of _Carum petroselinum_: _fr_
endosperm; _ol_ oil-ducts.]
[Illustration: FIG. 531.--_Pimpinella._ Transverse section of
fruit.]
=2.= AMMIEÆ, CARAWAY GROUP (Figs. 530–532). The fruit has only the 10
primary ridges; it is usually short, almost spherical or broadly ovate
and distinctly _compressed_ laterally. Oil-canals are most frequently
present. Orthospermous (except _Conium_).--_Cicuta_ (Cow-bane).
Pointed calyx-teeth. Glabrous herbs with pinnate or bipinnate leaves.
~_C. virosa_ has a thick, vertical rhizome, divided by transverse
septa into many compartments; the leaflets are narrow, lanceolate,
and dentate; the large involucre is wanting.~--_Apium_ (Celery). No
calyx-teeth. _A. graveolens_, a maritime plant, has neither large nor
small involucre; the umbels are short-stalked or sessile.--_Carum_
(Caraway). Calyx-teeth small; the large involucre is wanting or is only
few-leaved. _C. carvi_ (Caraway). _C. petroselinum_, (Parsley) (Fig.
530). _Falcaria_; _Ammi_; _Helosciadium_; _Bupleurum_ (Hare’s-ear) with
simple leaves and yellow corolla; _Pimpinella_ (Fig. 531); _Sium_;
_Ægopodium_ (_A. podagraria_, Gout-weed) has bi- or tri-ternate leaves,
with ovate, dentate leaflets; the large involucre is wanting.--_Conium_
is campylospermous (Fig. 532); the short, broadly ovate fruit has
distinctly projecting, often wavy crenulate ridges. _C. maculatum_
(Hemlock) has a round, smooth stem with purplish spots.
[Illustration: FIG. 532.--_Conium maculatum._ Fruit entire and
in transverse section.]
=3.= SCANDICEÆ. This group has a distinctly oblong or linear fruit
which is _slightly compressed laterally_, and generally prolonged
upwards into a “beak”; wings absent. _Campylospermous._ Otherwise
as in the Ammieæ.--_Anthriscus_ (Beaked Parsley) has a lanceolate
fruit, round on the dorsal side, without ridges, but with a ten-ridged
beak.--_Scandix_ (Shepherd’s-needle).--_Chærophyllum_ (Chervil): fruit
lanceolate or linear with low, blunt ridges; beak absent or very short.
_C. temulum_ has a red-spotted, hairy stem.--_Myrrhis_ (Cicely) has a
short beak and sharp, almost winged ridges. _M. odorata_ (Sweet Cicely)
has very long fruits.
[Illustration: FIG. 533.--_Œnanthe phellandrium._ Fruit entire
and in transverse section. _emb_ The embryo; _ol_ the oil-ducts;
_fr_ endosperm.]
[Illustration: FIG. 534.--_Fœniculum vulgare._ Fruit in
transverse section.]
=4.= SESELINEÆ, FENNEL GROUP (Figs. 533, 534). The fruit is slightly
elliptical or oblong, in transverse section circular or nearly so,
without grooves in the dividing plane; only primary ridges are
present. Orthospermous.--_Fœniculum_ (Fennel) has yellow petals; both
involucres are wanting; the fruit is oblong. The ridges are thick, all
equally developed, or the lateral ridges are slightly larger (Fig.
534).--_Æthusa_ (_A. cynapium_, Fool’s Parsley); the large involucre
is wanting or is reduced to one leaf, the small involucre is composed
of three linear leaves which hang downwards on the outer side of the
umbels. The fruit is spherical-ovate, with thick, sharp, keeled ridges,
the lateral ones of which are the broadest.--_Œnanthe_ (Dropwort); the
fruit (Fig. 533) has usually an ovate, lanceolate form, with distinct,
pointed sepals and long, erect styles; the ridges are very blunt, the
marginal ones a trifle broader than the others.--_Seseli_, _Libanotis_,
_Cnidium_, _Silex_, _Silaus_, _Meum_, etc.
=5.= PEUCEDANEÆ, PARSNIP GROUP (Figs. 535–537). The fruit is most
frequently very strongly _compressed_ dorsally, with broad, mostly
_winged_, lateral ridges. Only primary ridges. The dorsal ridges may
project considerably, but are not winged. Orthospermous.
[Illustration: FIG. 535.--_Archangelica officinalis._