''Platysace linearifolia'', known as carrot tops, is a slender shrub, found growing on poor sandy soils in eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, north of

Jervis Bay Jervis Bay () is a oceanic bay and village on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, said to possess the whitest sand in the world. A area of land around the southern headland of the bay is a territory of the Commonwealth of Australia ...

. It may form large colonies and is easily noticed in the late summer and autumn when covered in small white flowers. It grows from 40 cm to 1.5 metres tall. A feature of this plant is the linear leaves, 10 to 25 mm long, and 0.5 to 1 mm wide. The fruit is 2 mm long and wide, with

tubercles In anatomy, a tubercle (literally 'small tuber', Latin for 'lump') is any round nodule, small eminence, or warty outgrowth found on external or internal organs of a plant or an animal. In plants A tubercle is generally a wart-like projection ...

. First collected in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, it was described by the Spanish botanist

Antonio José Cavanilles Antonio José Cavanilles (16 January 1745 – 5 May 1804) was a leading Spanish taxonomic botanist of the 18th century. He named many plants, particularly from Oceania. He named at least 100 genera, about 54 of which were still used in 2004, ...

in 1799. The generic name is from the Greek meaning “a flat shield”, describing the fruit. The specific epithet refers to the straight thin leaves.Les Robinson - Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney, page 278 The reference to carrots in the common name is due to this plant being placed in the carrot family.

References

linearifolia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Taxa named by Antonio José Cavanilles {{Apiaceae-stub