Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s named after the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearing type of a nominal ...

Apium ''Apium'' (including celery and the marshworts) is a genus of about 20 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, with a subcosmopolitan distribution in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and Australia. They are medium to tall biennial ...

'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plants, with more than 3,700

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

in 434 generaStevens, P.F. (2001 onwards)
Angiosperm Phylogeny Website
Version 9, June 2008. including such well-known and economically important plants as

ajwain Ajwain, ajowan (), or ''Trachyspermum ammi''—also known as ajowancaraway, omam (in Tamil), thymol seeds, bishop's weed, or carom—is an annual herb in the family Apiaceae. Both the leaves and the seed‑like fruit (often mistakenly called ...

angelica ''Angelica'' is a genus of about 60 species of tall biennial and perennial herbs in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, reaching as far north as Iceland, Lapland, and Greenland. They gr ...

, anise,

asafoetida Asafoetida (; also spelled asafetida) is the dried latex ( gum oleoresin) exuded from the rhizome or tap root of several species of ''Ferula'', perennial herbs growing tall. They are part of the celery family, Umbelliferae. Asafoetida is th ...

caraway Caraway, also known as meridian fennel and Persian cumin (''Carum carvi''), is a biennial plant in the family Apiaceae, native to western Asia, Europe, and North Africa. Etymology The etymology of "caraway" is unclear. Caraway has been ...

, carrot,

celery Celery (''Apium graveolens'') is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since antiquity. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves. Depending on location and cultivar, either its stalks, ...

chervil Chervil (; ''Anthriscus cerefolium''), sometimes called French parsley or garden chervil (to distinguish it from similar plants also called chervil), is a delicate annual herb related to parsley. It was formerly called myrhis due to its volati ...

, coriander, cumin,

dill Dill (''Anethum graveolens'') is an annual herb in the celery family Apiaceae. It is the only species in the genus ''Anethum''. Dill is grown widely in Eurasia, where its leaves and seeds are used as a herb or spice for flavouring food. Growth ...

fennel Fennel (''Foeniculum vulgare'') is a flowering plant species in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalized ...

lovage Lovage (), ''Levisticum officinale'', is a tall perennial plant, the sole species in the genus ''Levisticum'' in the family Apiaceae, subfamily Apioideae. It has been long cultivated in Europe, the leaves being used as a herb, the roots as a veg ...

cow parsley ''Anthriscus sylvestris'', known as cow parsley, wild chervil, wild beaked parsley, Queen Anne's lace or keck, is a herbaceous biennial or short-lived perennial plant in the family Apiaceae (Umbelliferae), genus ''Anthriscus''. It is also some ...

, parsley,

parsnip The parsnip ('' Pastinaca sativa'') is a root vegetable closely related to carrot and parsley, all belonging to the flowering plant family Apiaceae. It is a biennial plant usually grown as an annual. Its long taproot has cream-colored skin an ...

and sea holly, as well as

silphium Silphium (also known as ''silphion'', ''laserwort'', or ''laser'') is an unidentified plant that was used in classical antiquity as a seasoning, perfume, aphrodisiac, and medicine. It also was used as a contraceptive by ancient Greeks and Romans ...

, a plant whose identity is unclear and which may be extinct. The family Apiaceae includes a significant number of

phototoxic Phototoxicity, also called photoirritation, is a chemically induced skin irritation, requiring light, that does not involve the immune system. It is a type of photosensitivity. The skin response resembles an exaggerated sunburn. The involved chemi ...

species, such as

giant hogweed ''Heracleum mantegazzianum'', commonly known as giant hogweed, is a monocarpic perennial herbaceous plant in the carrot family Apiaceae. ''H. mantegazzianum'' is also known as cartwheel-flower, giant cow parsley, giant cow parsnip, or hogs ...

, and a smaller number of highly

poisonous Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...

species, such as

poison hemlock ''Conium maculatum'', colloquially known as hemlock, poison hemlock or wild hemlock, is a highly poisonous biennial herbaceous flowering plant in the carrot family Apiaceae, native to Europe and North Africa. A hardy plant capable of living in ...

water hemlock ''Cicuta'', commonly known as water hemlock, is a genus of four species of highly poisonous plants in the family Apiaceae. They are perennial herbaceous plants which grow up to tall, having distinctive small green or white flowers arranged in ...

spotted cowbane ''Cicuta maculata'' is a highly poisonous species of flowering plant in the carrot family known by several common names, including spotted water hemlock, spotted parsley, spotted cowbane, and the suicide root by the Iroquois. It is native to nea ...

fool's parsley ''Aethusa cynapium'' (fool's parsley, fool's cicely, or poison parsley) is an annual (rarely biennial) herb in the flowering plant family Apiaceae, native to Europe, western Asia, and northwest Africa. It is the only member of the genus ''Aethus ...

, and various species of

water dropwort Water dropwort is a common name for several genera of plants and may refer to: * ''Oenanthe'' (plant) * ''Oxypolis ''Oxypolis'' is a small genus of North American flowering plants in the carrot family known as cowbane, water dropwort, dropwort ...

Description

Most Apiaceae are

annual Annual may refer to: *Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year ** Yearbook ** Literary annual *Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), ...

biennial Biennial means (an event) lasting for two years or occurring every two years. The related term biennium is used in reference to a period of two years. In particular, it can refer to: * Biennial plant, a plant which blooms in its second year and th ...

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

herbs (frequently with the leaves aggregated toward the base), though a minority are woody shrubs or small trees such as '' Bupleurum fruticosum''. Their leaves are of variable size and alternately arranged, or with the upper leaves becoming nearly opposite. The leaves may be petiolate or

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

. There are no stipules but the petioles are frequently sheathing and the leaves may be

perfoliate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

. The leaf blade is usually dissected,

ternate Ternate is a city in the Indonesian province of North Maluku and an island in the Maluku Islands. It was the ''de facto'' provincial capital of North Maluku before Sofifi on the nearby coast of Halmahera became the capital in 2010. It is off the ...

, or

pinnatifid Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and i ...

, but simple and entire in some genera, e.g. ''

Bupleurum ''Bupleurum'' is a large genus of annual or perennial herbs or woody shrubs, with about 190 species, belonging to the family Apiaceae. The full size of its species may vary between a few cm to up to 3 m high. Their compound umbels of s ...

''. Commonly, their leaves emit a marked smell when crushed, aromatic to fetid, but absent in some species. The defining characteristic of this family is the

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

, the flowers nearly always aggregated in terminal

umbel In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin ''umbella'' "p ...

s, that may be simple or more commonly compound, often umbelliform cymes. The flowers are usually perfect (

hermaphroditic In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have s ...

) and

actinomorphic Floral symmetry describes whether, and how, a flower, in particular its perianth, can be divided into two or more identical or mirror-image parts. Uncommonly, flowers may have no axis of symmetry at all, typically because their parts are spirall ...

, but there may be

zygomorphic Floral symmetry describes whether, and how, a flower, in particular its perianth, can be divided into two or more identical or mirror-image parts. Uncommonly, flowers may have no axis of symmetry at all, typically because their parts are spirall ...

flowers at the edge of the umbel, as in carrot ('' Daucus carota'') and coriander, with petals of unequal size, the ones pointing outward from the umbel larger than the ones pointing inward. Some are andromonoecious, polygamomonoecious, or even dioecious (as in ''

Acronema The genus ''Acronema'' consists of 38 species of plants in the family Apiaceae found in the Sino-Himalayan region. Its also classified under the major group Angiosperms Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the ...

''), with a distinct calyx and corolla, but the calyx is often highly reduced, to the point of being undetectable in many species, while the corolla can be white, yellow, pink or purple. The flowers are nearly perfectly pentamerous, with five petals and five stamens. There is often variation in the functionality of the stamens even within a single inflorescence. Some flowers are functionally staminate (where a pistil may be present but has no ovules capable of being fertilized) while others are functionally pistillate (where stamens are present but their anthers do not produce viable pollen). Pollination of one flower by the pollen of a different flower of the same plant (

geitonogamy Geitonogamy (from Greek ''geiton'' (γείτων) = neighbor + ''gamein'' (γαμεῖν) = to marry) is a type of self-pollination. Geitonogamous pollination is sometimes distinguished from the fertilizations that can result from it, geitonogamy. ...

) is common. The

gynoecium Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils' ...

consists of two carpels fused into a single, bicarpellate pistil with an

inferior ovary In the flowering plants, an ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower or gynoecium. Specifically, it is the part of the pistil which holds the ovule(s) and is located above or below or at the point of connection with the ba ...

. Stylopodia support two styles and secrete nectar, attracting pollinators like flies, mosquitoes, gnats, beetles, moths, and bees. The fruit is a

schizocarp A schizocarp is a dry fruit that, when mature, splits up into mericarps. There are different definitions: * Any dry fruit composed of multiple carpels that separate. : Under this definition the mericarps can contain one or more seeds (the m ...

consisting of two fused carpels that separate at maturity into two mericarps, each containing a single seed. The fruits of many species are dispersed by wind but others such as those of ''

Daucus ''Daucus'' is a worldwide genus of herbaceous plants of the celery family Apiaceae of which the best-known species is the cultivated carrot. ''Daucus'' has about 25 species. The oldest carrot fossil is 1.3 Ma, and was found on the island of Mad ...

'' spp., are covered in bristles, which may be hooked in sanicle ''

Sanicula europaea ''Sanicula europaea'', the sanicle or wood sanicle, is a perennial plant of the family Apiaceae. It has traditionally been a favoured ingredient of many herbal remedies, and of it was said "he who has sanicle and self-heal needs neither physi ...

'' and thus catch in the fur of animals. The seeds have an oily endospermWatson, L., Dallwitz, M.J. (1992 onwards
The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval
. Version: 4 March 2011. and often contain essential oils, containing aromatic compounds that are responsible for the flavour of commercially important umbelliferous seed such as anise, cumin and coriander. The shape and details of the ornamentation of the ripe fruits are important for identification to species level.

Taxonomy

Apiaceae was first described by John Lindley in 1836. The name is derived from the type genus ''

'', which was originally used by

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

circa 50 AD for a

-like plant. The alternative name for the family, Umbelliferae, derives from the

being generally in the form of a compound

. The family was one of the first to be recognized as a distinct group in Jacques Daleschamps' 1586 ''Historia generalis plantarum''. With Robert Morison's 1672 ''Plantarum umbelliferarum distribution nova'' it became the first group of plants for which a systematic study was published. The family is solidly placed within the

Apiales The Apiales are an order of flowering plants. The families are those recognized in the APG III system. This is typical of the newer classifications, though there is some slight variation and in particular, the Torriceliaceae may also be divide ...

order in the APG III system. It is closely related to

Araliaceae The Araliaceae are a family of flowering plants composed of about 43 genera and around 1500 species consisting of primarily woody plants and some herbaceous plants. The morphology of Araliaceae varies widely, but it is predominantly distinguish ...

and the boundaries between these families remain unclear. Traditionally groups within the family have been delimited largely based on fruit

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

, and the results from this have not been congruent with the more recent molecular

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

analyses. The subfamilial and tribal classification for the family is currently in a state of flux, with many of the groups being found to be grossly paraphyletic or

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of conver ...

General

According to the

Angiosperm Phylogeny Website The Angiosperm Phylogeny Website (or APweb) is a website dedicated to research on angiosperm phylogeny and taxonomy. The site is hosted by the Missouri Botanical Garden website and maintained by researchers, Peter F. Stevens and Hilary M. Davis ...

, 434 genera are in the family Apiaceae. File:Chaerophyllum_bulbosum_-_Köhler–s_Medizinal-Pflanzen-177.jpg, '' Chaerophyllum bulbosum'' File:Apiaceae Pimpinella anisum.jpg, Anise (''Pimpinella anisum'')
from Woodville (1793) File:Angelica archangelica (1118596627).jpg, ''

Angelica archangelica ''Angelica archangelica'', commonly known as garden angelica, wild celery, and Norwegian angelica, is a biennial plant from the family Apiaceae, a subspecies of which is cultivated for its sweetly scented edible stems and roots. Like several oth ...

'' File:Coriandrum sativum 003.JPG, Umbel of ''

Coriandrum sativum Coriander (;

'' showing strong zygomorphy (asymmetry) in the outer flowers.

Ecology

The black swallowtail butterfly, ''

Papilio polyxenes ''Papilio polyxenes'', the (eastern) black swallowtail, American swallowtail or parsnip swallowtail, is a butterfly found throughout much of North America. It is the state butterfly of Oklahoma and New Jersey. An extremely similar-appearing spec ...

'', uses the family Apiaceae for food and host plants for oviposition. The

22-spot ladybird ''Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata'' (often abbreviated to ''Psyllobora 22-punctata''), the 22-spot ladybird, (earlier known as ''Thea vigintiduopunctata'') is a common, 3–5 mm long ladybird native to Europe . The elytra are yellow in ...

is also commonly found eating mildew on these plants.

Uses

Many members of this family are cultivated for various purposes.

Parsnip The parsnip ('' Pastinaca sativa'') is a root vegetable closely related to carrot and parsley, all belonging to the flowering plant family Apiaceae. It is a biennial plant usually grown as an annual. Its long taproot has cream-colored skin an ...

('' Pastinaca sativa''), carrot ('' Daucus carota'') and Hamburg parsley (''

Petroselinum ''Petroselinum'' (parsley) is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to western and southern Europe and northern Africa.The Euro+Med Plantbase Project''Petroselinum''/ref> They are bright green hairless biennial ...

crispum'') produce

tap root A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproo ...

s that are large enough to be useful as food. Many species produce essential oils in their leaves or fruits and as a result are flavourful aromatic herbs. Examples are parsley (''

crispum''), coriander (''Coriandrum sativum''),

culantro ''Eryngium foetidum'' is a tropical perennial herb in the family Apiaceae. Common names include culantro ( or ), recao, chadon beni (pronounced shadow benny), Mexican coriander, bhandhania, long coriander, sawtooth coriander, and ngò gai. It i ...

, and

(''Anethum graveolens''). The seeds may be used in cuisine, as with coriander (''Coriandrum sativum''),

(''Foeniculum vulgare''), cumin (''Cuminum cyminum''), and

(''Carum carvi''). Other notable cultivated Apiaceae include

(''Anthriscus cerefolium''),

(''Angelica'' spp.),

(''Apium graveolens''), arracacha (''Arracacia xanthorrhiza''), sea holly (''Eryngium'' spp.),

(''Ferula asafoetida''),

galbanum Galbanum is an aromatic gum resin and a product of certain umbelliferous Persian plant species in the genus ''Ferula'', chiefly ''Ferula gummosa'' (synonym ''F. galbaniflua'') and ''Ferula rubricaulis''. Galbanum-yielding plants grow plentifull ...

(''Ferula gummosa''),

cicely ''Myrrhis odorata'', with common names cicely (), sweet cicely, myrrh, garden myrrh, and sweet chervil, is a herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the celery family Apiaceae. It is the only species in the genus ''Myrrhis''. Etymology The gen ...

(''Myrrhis odorata''), anise (''Pimpinella anisum''),

(''Levisticum officinale''), and hacquetia (''Hacquetia epipactis'').

Cultivation

Generally, all members of this family are best cultivated in the cool-season garden; they may not grow at all if the soils are too warm. Almost every widely cultivated plant of this group is a considered useful as a

companion plant Companion planting in gardening and agriculture is the planting of different crops in proximity for any of a number of different reasons, including pest control, pollination, providing habitat for beneficial insects, maximizing use of space, and ...

. One reason is that the tiny flowers, clustered into umbels, are well suited for

ladybug Coccinellidae () is a widespread family of small beetles ranging in size from . They are commonly known as ladybugs in North America and ladybirds in Great Britain. Some entomologists prefer the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles as they ...

parasitic wasp Parasitoid wasps are a large group of hymenopteran superfamilies, with all but the wood wasps (Orussoidea) being in the wasp-waisted Apocrita. As parasitoids, they lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other arthropods, sooner or later causi ...

s, and predatory

flies Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced m ...

, which drink nectar when not reproducing. They then prey upon insect pests on nearby plants. Some of the members of this family considered "herbs" produce scents that are believed to mask the odours of nearby plants, thus making them harder for insect pests to find.

Other uses

The poisonous members of the Apiaceae have been used for a variety of purposes globally. The poisonous ''

Oenanthe crocata ''Oenanthe crocata'', hemlock water-dropwort (sometimes known as dead man's fingers) is a flowering plant in the carrot family, native to Europe, North Africa and western Asia. It grows in damp grassland and wet woodland, often along river and s ...

'' has been used as an aid in suicides, and

arrow poison Arrow poisons are used to poison arrow heads or darts for the purposes of hunting and warfare. They have been used by indigenous peoples worldwide and are still in use in areas of South America, Africa and Asia. Notable examples are the poisons se ...

s have been made from various other family species. '' Daucus carota'' has been used as coloring for butter. '' Dorema ammoniacum'', '' Ferula galbaniflua'', and ''

Ferula moschata ''Ferula moschata'' (syn. ''Ferula sumbul''), the musk root or sumbul, is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, found from Central Asia to western Xinjiang. Its roots are the source of muskroot, a substitute for animal musk Mus ...

'' (sumbul) are sources of

incense Incense is aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremony. It may also b ...

. The woody ''Azorella compacta'' Phil. has been used in South America for fuel.

Toxicity

Many species in the family Apiaceae produce phototoxic substances (called

furanocoumarins The furanocoumarins, or furocoumarins, are a class of organic chemical compounds produced by a variety of plants. Most of the plant species found to contain furanocoumarins belong to a handful of plant families. The families Apiaceae and Rutacea ...

) that sensitize human skin to sunlight. Contact with plant parts that contain furanocoumarins, followed by exposure to sunlight, may cause

phytophotodermatitis Phytophotodermatitis, also known as berloque dermatitis or margarita photodermatitis, is a cutaneous phototoxic inflammatory reaction resulting from contact with a light-sensitizing botanical agent followed by exposure to ultraviolet light (from ...

, a serious skin inflammation. Phototoxic species include ''

Ammi majus ''Ammi majus'', commonly called bishop's flower, false bishop's weed, laceflower, bullwort, etc., is a member of the carrot family Apiaceae. The plant, which has white lace-like flower clusters, has a large distribution through Southern Europe, ...

'', ''

Notobubon galbanum ''Notobubon galbanum'', re-classified from ''Peucedanum galbanum'' in 2008, commonly called the blister bush or hog's fennel, is a South African plant that is best known for its ability to cause painful blistering after contact. In Afrikaans th ...

,'' the

('' Pastinaca sativa'') and numerous species of the genus '' Heracleum'', especially the giant hogweed (''

Heracleum mantegazzianum ''Heracleum mantegazzianum'', commonly known as giant hogweed, is a monocarpic perennial herbaceous plant in the carrot family Apiaceae. ''H. mantegazzianum'' is also known as cartwheel-flower, giant cow parsley, giant cow parsnip, or hogsb ...

''). Of all the plant species that have been reported to induce phytophotodermatitis, approximately half belong to the family Apiaceae. The family Apiaceae also includes a smaller number of poisonous species, including

, and various species of

. Some members of the family Apiaceae, including carrot,

, parsley and

, contain polyynes, an unusual class of organic compounds that exhibit cytotoxic effects.

References

External links

*

at ''The Families of Flowering Plants (DELTA)''
Apiaceae
at ''Discover Life''

at the ''Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh''
Umbellifer Information Server
at ''Moscow State University'' {{Authority control Asterid families