[L.: see UMBEL.]
1. Bot. An umbel.
[1693. trans. Blancard’s Phys. Dict. (ed. 2), Umbellæ, the Tops of Plants that are like a Bird’s Nest.]
1699. Evelyn, Acetaria, 25. Fennel … expels Wind, sharpens the Sight, and recreates the Brain; especially the tender Umbella and Seed-Pods.
1725. Fam. Dict., s.v. Moly, Bearing a great Umbella of starlike purple Flowers, that continue long before they decay.
1832. Lindley, Introd. Bot., 111. Unless they applied the same term to the umbella, the spica, and all other forms of inflorescence.
1856. Henslow, Dict. Bot. Terms, 206. Umbelliferus, bearing umbels. Assuming the form as an umbella.
2. Zool. A more or less convex disk supporting the tentacula in Medusæ.
1834. McMurtrie, Cuvier’s Anim. Kingd., 480. The tentacula, whether situated on the margin of the umbella or round the mouth, vary, not only according to the species, but to the age of the animal.
