Daucus carota L.
wild carrot
Erect branching annual or biennial, with a slender white taproot. Stems hispid, ± solid, ribbed, sometimes purple tinged, up to 120 cm high. Basal lvs sparsely to moderately hairy, 2-3-pinnate, petiolate; ultimate segments ovate to linear, pinnatisect or serrate, c. 15-40 mm long; stem lvs similar to basal but reduced and segments more often linear. Umbels compound, 2-12 cm diam., usually strongly concave at fruiting; rays numerous; bracts numerous, 1-pinnate, with linear segments; bracteoles 5-9, usually simple and linear to triangular, those of outer umbellets sometimes pinnatisect. Fls numerous, white or tinged pink, 1-7 mm diam., a few central fls sometimes red or purple. Fr. ovoid, dark brown, 2.5-3 mm long; primary ribs sparsely ciliate, secondary ribs spinous; spines pale brown, rarely reflexed at tips.
N.: common throughout; S.: common in Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury, local in Otago and Westland; K.
Europe, Asia, N. Africa 1854
Waste places, grassland, riverbeds, cultivated land, gardens; more common in drier situations, abundant in some areas.
FL Aug-May.
Although D. carota is somewhat variable in N.Z., particularly in lf form, most material can be referred to the typical subsp. of this very variable sp. The cultivated carrot, distinguished by its swollen brightly coloured taproot, is usually treated as subsp. sativus (L.) Schuebler et Martens. The spinous fr. distinguishes this sp. (Fig. 12) from most other N.Z. umbellifers.
