''Daucus'' is a worldwide

genus 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 nom ...

of herbaceous plants of the

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, ...

family

Apiaceae Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus '' Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plan ...

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 Madeira in the Atlantic Ocean.

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

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. The flowers are mostly white, with bracts and bracteoles. The petals may be pure white, reddish, pinkish or yellowish. They are

emarginate 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 ...

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 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 ...

, 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 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 ...

, similar to a radish, which may or may not be bitter in taste.

Ecology

''Daucus''

pollination Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds, a ...

is carried out by insects, primarily: Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, and Hymenoptera. It is a

cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

genus with endemic species on most continents as well as on many islands and in isolated areas. The genus centre is in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

and

Southwest Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Ana ...

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 ''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 World ...

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 ''Daucus broteri'', commonly known as Brotero's carrot, is a wild relative of ''Daucus carota'' that can be found across the northeast Mediterranean and the Middle East. It grows in cultivated and plantation-type land. Description ''Daucus brot ...

'' 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 ''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 Year#SI prefix multipliers, Ma, and was ...

'' 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'' 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 Year#SI prefix multipliers, Ma, and was ...

'' *'' Daucus tenuisectus'' *'' Daucus tenuissimus'' *'' Daucus virgatus'' *'' Daucus yemenensis''

Allergenicity

''Daucus'' has an 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,
''Daucus''
Flora of China

External links

species list
on the Germplasm Resources Information Network

Index synonymique France (French) {{Authority control Apiaceae genera Apioideae