genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

anise Anise (; '), also called aniseed or rarely anix is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to Eurasia. The flavor and aroma of its seeds have similarities with some other spices and herbs, such as star anise, fennel, licorice, and ta ...

carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', nat ...

coriander Coriander (;

cumin Cumin ( or , or Article title
) (''Cuminum cyminum'') is a

dill, fennel, lovage, cow parsley,

parsley Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to the central and eastern Mediterranean region (Sardinia, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, southern Italy, Greece, Por ...

, parsnip and

sea holly Sea holly is a common name for several plants and may refer to: * ''Acanthus ebracteatus'' * '' Eryngium'' species, especially: ** ''Eryngium maritimum ''Eryngium maritimum'', the sea holly or sea eryngo, or sea eryngium, is a perennial species ...

, as well as silphium, 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, and a smaller number of highly poisonous species, such as poison hemlock,

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, and various species of water dropwort.

Description

Most Apiaceae are annual, biennial or perennial

herbs In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

(frequently with the leaves aggregated toward the base), though a minority are woody

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s or small trees such as ''

Bupleurum fruticosum ''Bupleurum fruticosum'' or shrubby hare's-ear is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae. It is endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, c ...

''. Their leaves are of variable size and alternately arranged, or with the upper leaves becoming nearly opposite. The leaves may be

petiolate Petiole may refer to: *Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem *Petiole (insect anatomy) In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, a ...

or sessile. There are no

stipules In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole). Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many speci ...

but the petioles are frequently sheathing and the leaves may be perfoliate. The leaf blade is usually dissected, ternate, or pinnatifid, but simple and entire in some genera, e.g. '' Bupleurum''. 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, the flowers nearly always aggregated in terminal umbels, that may be simple or more commonly compound, often umbelliform

cymes An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed on ...

. The flowers are usually perfect ( hermaphroditic) and actinomorphic, but there may be zygomorphic flowers at the edge of the umbel, as in

carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', nat ...

(''

Daucus carota ''Daucus carota'', whose common names include wild carrot, European wild carrot, bird's nest, bishop's lace, and Queen Anne's lace (North America), is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae. It is native to temperate regions of the Old Wor ...

'') and

coriander 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 Calyx or calyce (plural "calyces"), from the Latin ''calix'' which itself comes from the Ancient Greek ''κάλυξ'' (''kálux'') meaning "husk" or "pod", may refer to: Biology * Calyx (anatomy), collective name for several cup-like structures ...

and

corolla Corolla may refer to: *Corolla (botany), the petals of a flower, considered as a unit *Toyota Corolla, an automobile model name * Corolla (headgear), an ancient headdress in the form of a circlet or crown * ''Corolla'' (gastropod), a genus of moll ...

, 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 Merosity (from the greek "méros," which means "having parts") refers to the number of component parts in a distinct whorl of a plant structure. The term is most commonly used in the context of a flower where it refers to the number of sepals in a ...

, with five

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s and five

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s. 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) is common. The gynoecium 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 bas ...

. Stylopodia support two styles and secrete nectar, attracting pollinators like flies, mosquitoes, gnats, beetles, moths, and bees. The fruit is a schizocarp 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'' spp., are covered in bristles, which may be hooked in sanicle '' Sanicula europaea'' and thus catch in the fur of animals. The seeds have an oily

endosperm The endosperm is a tissue produced inside the seeds of most of the flowering plants following double fertilization. It is triploid (meaning three chromosome sets per nucleus) in most species, which may be auxin-driven. It surrounds the embryo and ...

Watson, 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 Anise (; '), also called aniseed or rarely anix is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to Eurasia. The flavor and aroma of its seeds have similarities with some other spices and herbs, such as star anise, fennel, licorice, and ta ...

,

cumin Cumin ( or , or Article title
) (''Cuminum cyminum'') is a

coriander 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 John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist. Early years Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley w ...

in 1836. The name is derived from the type genus '' Apium'', which was originally used by Pliny the Elder circa 50 AD for a celery-like plant. The alternative name for the family, Umbelliferae, derives from the inflorescence being generally in the form of a compound umbel. 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 order in the

APG III system The APG III system of flowering plant classification is the third version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy being developed by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG). Published in 2009, it was superseded in 2016 by a fur ...

. It is closely related to Araliaceae and the boundaries between these families remain unclear. Traditionally groups within the family have been delimited largely based on fruit morphology, and the results from this have not been congruent with the more recent molecular phylogenetic 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 In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

or polyphyletic.

General

According to the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website , 434 genera are in the family Apiaceae. File:Chaerophyllum_bulbosum_-_Köhler–s_Medizinal-Pflanzen-177.jpg, ''

Chaerophyllum bulbosum ''Chaerophyllum bulbosum'' is a species of flowering plant from the carrot family and known by several common names, including turnip-rooted chervil, tuberous-rooted chervil, bulbous chervil, and parsnip chervil. It is native to Europe and Wes ...

'' File:Apiaceae Pimpinella anisum.jpg,

Anise Anise (; '), also called aniseed or rarely anix is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to Eurasia. The flavor and aroma of its seeds have similarities with some other spices and herbs, such as star anise, fennel, licorice, and ta ...

(''Pimpinella anisum'')
from Woodville (1793) File:Angelica archangelica (1118596627).jpg, '' Angelica archangelica'' File:Coriandrum sativum 003.JPG, Umbel of '' Coriandrum sativum'' 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 ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typical ...

. 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 (''

Pastinaca ''Pastinaca'' (parsnips) is a genus of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, comprising 14 species. Economically, the most important member of the genus is ''Pastinaca sativa'', the parsnip. Etymology The etymology of the generic name ''Pastin ...

sativa''),

carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', nat ...

(''

Daucus carota ''Daucus carota'', whose common names include wild carrot, European wild carrot, bird's nest, bishop's lace, and Queen Anne's lace (North America), is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae. It is native to temperate regions of the Old Wor ...

'') and

Hamburg parsley Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to the central and eastern Mediterranean region (Sardinia, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, southern Italy, Greece, Por ...

(''

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 roots that are large enough to be useful as food. Many species produce

essential oil An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the o ...

s in their leaves or fruits and as a result are flavourful aromatic herbs. Examples are

parsley Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to the central and eastern Mediterranean region (Sardinia, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, southern Italy, Greece, Por ...

(''

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''),

coriander Coriander (;

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

coriander Coriander (;

(''Coriandrum sativum''), fennel (''Foeniculum vulgare''),

cumin Cumin ( or , or Article title
) (''Cuminum cyminum'') is a

caraway (''Carum carvi''). Other notable cultivated Apiaceae include chervil (''Anthriscus cerefolium''), angelica (''Angelica'' spp.), celery (''Apium graveolens''),

arracacha Arracacha (''Arracacia xanthorrhiza'') is a root vegetable that originates in the Andes, whose starchy taproot is a popular food item across South America where it is a major commercial crop. Common names Being a South American plant, its most ...

(''Arracacia xanthorrhiza''),

sea holly Sea holly is a common name for several plants and may refer to: * ''Acanthus ebracteatus'' * '' Eryngium'' species, especially: ** ''Eryngium maritimum ''Eryngium maritimum'', the sea holly or sea eryngo, or sea eryngium, is a perennial species ...

(''Eryngium'' spp.), asafoetida (''Ferula asafoetida''), galbanum (''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 Anise (; '), also called aniseed or rarely anix is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to Eurasia. The flavor and aroma of its seeds have similarities with some other spices and herbs, such as star anise, fennel, licorice, and ta ...

(''Pimpinella anisum''), lovage (''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. 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 ...

s, parasitic wasps, and predatory flies, 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'' has been used as an aid in suicides, and arrow poisons have been made from various other family species. ''

Daucus carota ''Daucus carota'', whose common names include wild carrot, European wild carrot, bird's nest, bishop's lace, and Queen Anne's lace (North America), is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae. It is native to temperate regions of the Old Wor ...

'' has been used as coloring for butter. ''

Dorema ammoniacum ''Ferula ammoniacum'' (syn. ''Dorema ammoniacum'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native to Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. It is the source of Persian gum ammoniac. References ammoniacum Ammoniacum ...

'', ''

Ferula galbaniflua ''Ferula'' (from Latin ''ferula'', 'rod') is a genus of about 220 species of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to the Mediterranean region east to central Asia, mostly growing in arid climates. They are herbaceous perennial plants ...

'', 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 :''The term "muskroot" can also refe ...

'' (sumbul) are sources of incense. 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) that sensitize human skin to sunlight. Contact with plant parts that contain furanocoumarins, followed by exposure to sunlight, may cause phytophotodermatitis, 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 parsnip (''

Pastinaca ''Pastinaca'' (parsnips) is a genus of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, comprising 14 species. Economically, the most important member of the genus is ''Pastinaca sativa'', the parsnip. Etymology The etymology of the generic name ''Pastin ...

sativa'') and numerous species of the genus '' Heracleum'', especially the giant hogweed ('' Heracleum mantegazzianum''). 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 poison hemlock,

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, and various species of water dropwort. Some members of the family Apiaceae, including

carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', nat ...

, celery, fennel,

parsley Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to the central and eastern Mediterranean region (Sardinia, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, southern Italy, Greece, Por ...

and parsnip, contain

polyyne In organic chemistry, a polyyne () is any organic compound with alternating single and triple bonds; that is, a series of consecutive alkynes, with ''n'' greater than 1. These compounds are also called polyacetylenes, especially in the natural p ...

s, 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

Description

Taxonomy

General

Ecology

Uses

Cultivation

Other uses

Toxicity

References

Further reading

External links