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Carrot family🌿
Apiaceae
セリ科
A family including water dropwort, mitsuba, carrots, and parsley. Characterized by compound umbels in which numerous small flowers are arranged in umbrella-like clusters. Contains edible, medicinal, and poisonous species that can be easily confused due to similar appearance.
Key Characteristics
- ●Compound umbel inflorescence (umbrella-shaped)
- ●Stems hollow or with pith
- ●Leaves mostly pinnately compound, with sheathing bases
- ●Contain essential oils with distinctive aromas
Morphological Traits
A family may include species with different trait values — multiple values indicate the range within the family.
Leaf arrangement
Alternate / Opposite
Leaf type
Simple / Compound
Venation
Parallel / Pinnate / Palmate
Leaf margin
Entire
Growth form
Shrub / Tree / Herb
Evergreen/Deciduous
Deciduous
Compound type
Pinnate / Ternate / Bipinnate / Palmate
Leaf dissection
Dissected / Undivided
Stipules
Present / Absent
Aromatic
Aromatic / Foetid / None
Flower symmetry
Actinomorphic
Petal count
4 petals / 5 petals / 6 petals / Many
Ovary position
Inferior
Stamen count
5
Plant sex
Dioecious / Hermaphrodite / Monoecious
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Eudicots > Apiales > Apiaceae
Divergence Era
Late Cretaceous to Paleogene
Representative Genera
Related Evolution Events
- ・Enhanced pollination efficiency through aggregation of numerous small flowers in compound umbels