iETHUSA Cynapiura.
Fool’s Parsley.
PENTANDRIA Digynia.
G en. Char. General involucrum none: partial of 3
leaves, all on one side, pendulous. Fruit striated.
Spec. Char. Leaves all uniform.
Syn. iEthusa Cynapium. Linn. Sp. PI. 3 6 7 . Sm. FI.
Brit. 323. Huds. 123. With. 304. Hull. 62.
Relh. 118. Sibth. 99. Abbot. 65. Curt. Lond.
fasc. 1. t. 18.
Cicutaria tenuifolia. Rail Syn. 215.
FoOL ’S PARSLEY, or Lesser Hemlock, has many botanical
characters in common with the Conium described in our
last plate, but its much smaller size, broader leaves, unspotted
stem, and the want of a general involucrum preclude all possibility
of mistake between them. The plant now before us is
much more likely to be mistaken for Garden Parsley, as being
a common weed in the gardens and fields, and bearing a great
resemblance to that useful herb. To distinguish them, the
dark dull green of the Fool’s Parsley must be observed, and its
nauseous garlick scent, instead of the pleasant aromatic flavour
of the other. When the umbels appear, the long pendulous
leaves of the partial involucrum at once distinguish the ALthusa.
We are not sure of the very poisonous qualities attributed by
some to this plant, but it is at least unwholesome, as well as
unpleasant, and by no means eligible for food or medicine.
It is annual, flowering in July and August. The stem round,
slender, about a foot high, slightly striated, branched and
leafy. Leaves smooth, doubly pinnate; leaflets oblong, decurrent
and cut. Umbels on long stalks, flattish. Flowers white.
Petals a little unequal or radiant. Fruit ovate, swelling, striated.
The stem has often a violet tinge, but is not spotted.