Seseli
(old Greek name, used by Hippocrates, for an umbelliferous plant). Meadow Saxifrage. Including Bubon, Libanotis, and Wallrothia (of Sprengel). ORD. Umbelliferae. A genus of about forty species of mostly hardy, perennial or rarely biennial, erect herbs, nearly all inhabiting the North temperate regions. Flowers white, in compound umbels; petals rather broad; involucral bracts numerous, few, or absent. Leaves ternate-pinnate, dissected or decompound; segments sometimes filiform, sometimes broader and incised. S. dichotomum and S. gummiferum are the only species calling for description here. S. Libanotis is a native of Britain. The plants thrive in ordinary soil, and may be increased by seeds.
S. dichotomum (dichotomous). fl. white; involucre wanting. June and July. l. pinnate; leaflets multifid, the segments linear. Stem terete, erect, clothed with fine down; lower branches short. h. 1ft. to 2ft. Tauria, 1818. Perennial. (B. M. 2073.) S. gummiferum (gum-bearing). fl. white, tinged with pink; involucre of few leaflets, rarely wanting; umbel twenty-rayed. July to September. l. tripinnate, glaucous; leaflets cuneate, trifid. Stem thick, stiff, branched at top, yielding a gum when cut. h. 3ft. to 4ft. Tauria, 1804. A showy biennial. (B. M. 2259.)
