Description
Members of ''Daucus'' are distinguished within the family ''Apiaceae'' by their leaves which are 2–3 pinnatisect with narrow end sections. The genus primarily consists of biennial plants but also includes some annual plants and some perennial herbs. All ''Daucus'' have bristly stems. The inflorescences are umbels. The flowers are mostly white, with bracts and bracteoles. The petals may be pure white, reddish, pinkish or yellowish. They are Glossary of leaf morphology#emarginate, emarginate above and have pointed, wrapped lobules. The petals are often unequal in size, with petals at the outermost edge of the inflorescence often being larger. The fruit is an ovoid to ellipsoidal schizocarp, cylindrical or compressed, with ciliate primary ribs and secondary ribs with a row of hooked spines. Some species have a small pale or white edible taproot, similar to a radish, which may or may not be bitter in taste.Ecology
''Daucus'' pollination is carried out by insects, primarily: Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, and Hymenoptera. It is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan genus with endemic species on most continents as well as on many islands and in isolated areas. The genus centre is in North Africa and Southwest Asia in the Temperate Zone. Prolonged dry or cold weather tends to retard growth in ''Daucus'' species, but the genus as a whole is evolutionarily adaptative to these conditions. Some ''Daucus'' species accumulate substantial resources in large underground taproots without impeding plant development. Native to Europe is the carrot, with two subspecies: wild carrot and (''subsp carota Daucus carota''), a cultivated form of carrot, also called garden carrot. Four members of the Daucus genus were examined to determine differences in isoenzyme patterns and plastid DNA. The four were: ''Daucus carota subspecies sativus cultivar Danvers'', ''D. carota subsp. gummifer'', ''D. capillifolius'', and ''D. pusillus''. Although only one form of HSDH (homoserine dehydrogenase) was present in each ''Daucus'' line, the rate of migration of HSDH from cv. Danvers was different from that of the others. Multiple isoenzymic forms of ADH were present in each ''Daucus'' cultivar. Comparison of endonuclease restriction fragment patterns from plastid DNAs digested by BamHI revealed only small differences between plastid DNAs of cv. Danvers and subsp. ''gummifer'', whereas large differences were observed between cv. Danvers and ''D. pusillus'' plastid DNA patterns. No differences were found between cv. Danvers and ''D. capillifolius'' plastid DNA patterns when examined using eight different restriction enzymes. The data indicate that specific isoenzyme and organelle DNA restriction fragment patterns will be useful markers for precise identification of genomes of different ''Daucus'' species.Systematics
The genus comprises about 47 species divided into three sections.Sáenz Lain C. 1981. "Research on ''Daucus'' L (Apiaceae)". ''Anales Jardin Botanico De Madrid''. 37: 481–533. The species include: *''Daucus aureus'' Desfontaines, yellow fruit's carrot, golden carrot *''Daucus aleppicus'' *''Daucus annuus'' *''Daucus arcanus'' *''Daucus aureus'' *''Daucus biseriatus'' *''Daucus blanchei'' *''Daucus broteri'' Tenore, Brotero's carrot *''Daucus capillifolius'' *''Daucus carota'' L., Wild carrot *''Daucus crinitus'' *''Daucus decipiens'' *''Daucus della-cellae'' *''Daucus durieua'' Lange, Durieu's carrot *''Daucus edulis'' Lowe *''Daucus elegans'' *''Daucus glaberrimus'' *''Daucus glochidiatus'' (La Billardière) Fisch., C.A.Mey. & Avé-Lall. *''Daucus gracilis'' *''Daucus guttatus'' Sibthorp & Smith *''Daucus hirtus'' *''Daucus hochstetteri'' *''Daucus humilis'' *''Daucus incognitus'' *''Daucus insularis'' *''Daucus involucratus'' *''Daucus jordanicus'' *''Daucus littoralis'' Sibthorp & Smith *''Daucus mauritii'' *''Daucus melananthos'' *''Daucus microscias'' *''Daucus minusculus'' *''Daucus mirabilis'' *''Daucus montanus'' Humb. & Bonpl. ex Spreng. *''Daucus muricatus''* ''(L.) L. *''Daucus pedunculatus'' *''Daucus pumilus'' *''Daucus pusillus'' Michx., American wild carrot *''Daucus reboudii'' *''Daucus ribeirensis'' *''Daucus rouyi'' *''Daucus sahariensis'' *''Daucus setifolius'' *''Daucus tenuisectus'' *''Daucus tenuissimus'' *''Daucus virgatus'' *''Daucus yemenensis''Allergenicity
''Daucus'' has an OPALS (Ogren Plant Allergy Scale), OPALS allergy scale rating of 10 out of 10, indicating extremely high potential to cause allergic reactions.References
The article is based on the following sources: * Seybold Siegmund (eds): ''interactive'' Schmeil-Fitschen (CD-Rom), Source & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2001/2002,External links
.jpg.html){kind=link}