APIACEAE

CARROT FAMILY

Lincoln Constance

Annual, biennial, perennial herb (rarely shrub, tree), often from taproot
Stem often ± scapose, generally ribbed, hollow
Leaves basal and generally some cauline, generally alternate; stipules generally 0; petiole base generally sheathing stem; blade generally much dissected, sometimes compound
Inflorescence: umbel or head, simple or compound, generally peduncled; bracts present (in involucres) or not; bractlets generally present (in involucels)
Flowers many, small, generally bisexual (or some staminate), generally radial (or outer bilateral); calyx 0 or lobes 5, small, atop ovary; petals 5, free, generally ovate or spoon-shaped, generally incurved at tips, generally ± ephemeral; stamens 5; pistil 1, ovary inferior, 2-chambered, generally with a ± conic, persistent projection or platform on top subtending 2 free styles
Fruit: 2 dry, 1-seeded halves that separate from each other but generally remain attached for some time to a central axis; ribs on each half 5, 2 marginal and 3 on back; oil tubes 1–several per interval between ribs
Genera in family: 300 genera, 3,000 species: ± worldwide, especially temp; many cultivated for food or spice (e.g., Carum, caraway; Daucus; Petroselinum); some highly toxic (e.g., Conium). Underground structures here called roots, but true nature remains problematic. Mature fruit generally critical in identification; shapes generally given in outline, followed by shape in X -section of 2 fruit halves together.

AMMI

Annual, biennial, taprooted, glabrous
Stem erect, branched
Leaf: blade oblong to ovate, pinnately or ternately dissected, segments lanceolate to thread-like
Inflorescence: umbels compound; bracts, bractlets many, leaf-like; rays, pedicels many, spreading-ascending to incurved in fruit
Flower: calyx lobes minute; petals wide, white, tips 2-lobed
Fruit oblong to ovate, subcylindric, compressed side-to-side; ribs subequal, thread-like; oil tubes per rib-interval 1; fruit axis entire or divided
Seed: face flat
Species in genus: ± 6 species: Eurasia, Medit; 2 species weedy in CA
Etymology: (Ancient name used by Dioscorides)
TOXIC; rarely eaten by livestock.

Introduced

A. majus L.

Plant 2–8 dm
Leaf: petiole 1–5 cm; blade 6–20 cm, oblong, segments 10–15 mm, lanceolate to round; cauline leaves 2-pinnately dissected
Inflorescence scabrous; peduncle 8–14 cm; rays 20–60, 2–7 cm, very slender, ± scabrous; pedicels 1–10 mm
Fruit 1.5–2 mm, oblong
Chromosomes: 2n=22
Ecology: Fields, roadsides, other disturbed places
Elevation: generally < 1000 m.
Bioregional distribution: North Coast
Distribution outside California: native to Eurasia