Apiaceae (Umbelliferae)
(Carrot Family)
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Habit
- mostly herbs, often strongly scented
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Leaves
- alternate or all
basal, usually lobed
or compound, estipulate
with sheathing
petioles
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Inflorescence
- simple or compound
umbels
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Flowers
- perfect, mostly regular
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Sepals
- 5, often minute, distinct;
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Petals
- 5, distinct
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Stamens
- 5 distinct, alternate
with petals
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Ovary
- of 2 fused carpels; inferior
with 2 locules and 1 ovule
per locule
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Fruit
- a schizocarp with
2 mericarps, often ribbed,
winged or covered with
prickles; style
in fruit called stylopodium
(a); mericarps attached
to ovary axis
called carpophore
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Diversity
- 300 genera / 3000 species
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Distribution
- North-temperate region; rare in tropics
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Economics
- vegetables: carrot, celery. Herbs: chervil, parsley, dill, caraway, coriandeer,
cumin, fennel, anise. Some species poisonous: water-hemlock (Conium, Cicutaria)
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Notes
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Images
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