(from ἀναθεῖν, to run up, because it is of quick growth,) nill., a genus of the digynia order, belonging to the pentandria class of plants.

Species. Of this genus Dr. Linnæus mentions two species, the graveolens, and the fusciculum; but as the latter is commonly reckoned a distinct genus, and several species of it are mentioned by other botanical writers, we choose to keep them separate, and shall here take notice only of the graveolens. This is an annual plant: the root is long, slender, and white; the leaves are divided into a multitude of fine, long, narrow segments like those of fennel, but of a bluish green colour, and less strong smell. The stalk is round and firm, growing to the height of four feet, with yellow flowers in moderately large umbels.

Culture. This plant thrives best in a light soil, and cannot bear to be transplanted. If the seeds are suffered to scatter, the trouble of sowing will be prevented; but the plants must be thinned, so as to leave eight or ten inches between them, or they will be very weak.

Medicinal Uses. For the purposes of medicine only the seeds of these plants are used. They are of a pale yellowish colour, in shape nearly oval, convex on one side, and flat on the other. Their taste is moderately warm and pungent; their smell aromatic, but not of the most agreeable kind. They are recommended as a carminative, in flatulent colics proceeding from a cold cause or a viscidity of the juices. See Materia Medica, no. 103.