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.

CYMOPTERUS

Perennial, taprooted, generally glabrous
Stem generally 0 or short
Leaves mostly basal, membranous to subleathery or fleshy; blade oblong to widely ovate or round, palmately or pinnately lobed to 1–2-pinnately or -ternate-pinnately dissected or compound, segments or leaflets linear to obovate, entire to variously lobed, generally spine-tipped
Inflorescence: umbels compound, generally terminal, scapose, open to spheric, dense, peduncled; bracts, bractlets conspicuous and scarious (or rarely 0); rays few–many (rays and pedicels sometimes ± 0)
Flower: calyx lobes prominent to 0; petals oblong to obovate, white, yellow, or purple, tips narrowed; projection atop ovary 0
Fruit oblong to ovate, subcylindric to compressed front-to-back; ribs subequal or unequal, marginal and some or all others thin- or corky-winged, or rarely some or all wingless; oil tubes per rib-interval 1–several; fruit axis 0 or divided to base
Seed: face flat to longitudinally concave or grooved
Species in genus: ± 50 species: w North America
Etymology: (Greek: wave wing)
Reference: [Mathias 1930 Ann Missouri Bot Gard 17:213–476]
Generic boundaries fluctuating. Some species outside CA are TOXIC to livestock.

Native

C. globosus (S. Watson) S. Watson

Plant 3–20 cm, with leafless stalk above taproot, glabrous, glaucous
Stem (above leafless stalk) 0
Leaf: petiole 1–10 cm; blade 1–7 cm, oblong-ovate, ternate–2-pinnately or 2-pinnately dissected, segments 0.5–6 mm, ± indistinct
Inflorescence: peduncles = or > leaves; bracts 0; bractlets linear, small; rays, pedicels ± 0
Flower: corolla white or purple
Fruit 6–11 mm, narrowly wedge-shaped; ribs subequal, wings < body in width; oil tubes per rib-interval generally 1
Chromosomes: 2n=22
Ecology: Uncommon. Sandy open flats
Elevation: 1200–2100 m.
Bioregional distribution: East of Sierra Nevada
Distribution outside California: Nevada, Utah
Flowering time: Mar–May