Daucus

Quality 0.50 · 3 views · Updated 2 months ago

Genus of flowering plants in the celery family Apiaceae

title: "Daucus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["daucus", "apioideae", "apioideae-genera", "taxa-described-in-1753", "botanical-taxa-named-by-carl-linnaeus"] description: "Genus of flowering plants in the celery family Apiaceae" topic_path: "general/daucus" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daucus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of flowering plants in the celery family Apiaceae ::

| image = Daucus carota0.jpg | image_caption = Daucus carota | display_parents = 3 | taxon = Daucus | authority = L. (1753) | subdivision = See text | synonyms =

  • Agrocharis Hochst.
  • Ammiopsis Boiss.
  • Babiron Raf.
  • Ballimon Raf.
  • Carota Rupr.
  • Caucaliopsis H.Wolff
  • Ctenodaucus Pomel
  • Durieua Boiss. & Reut.
  • Gynophyge Gilli
  • Heterosciadium Lange ex Willk.
  • Melanaton Raf.
  • Melanoselinum Hoffm.
  • Meopsis (Calest.) Koso-Pol.
  • Monizia Lowe
  • Pachyctenium Maire & Pamp.
  • Peltactila Raf.
  • Platydaucon Rchb.
  • Platyspermum Hoffm.
  • Pomelia Durando ex Pomel
  • Pseudorlaya Murb.
  • Rouya Coincy
  • Staflinus Raf.
  • Tetrapleura Parl.
  • Tiricta Raf.
  • Tornabenea Parl. |synonyms_ref =

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 45 species.

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 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 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 adaptive to these conditions. Some Daucus species accumulate substantial resources in large underground taproots without impeding plant development. Native to Europe is the carrot, with several subspecies, including subsp. carota (wild carrot), subsp. gummifer (sea carrot) and subsp. sativus, 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.

Species

45 species are currently accepted.

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

References

  1. "''Daucus'' L.". [[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]].
  2. (2019). "Tracing insular woodiness in giant Daucus (s.l.) fruit fossils from the Early Pleistocene of Madeira Island (Portugal)". Taxon.
  3. (2019). "Daucus carota (Carrot)". CAB International.
  4. (January 1984). "Variation in Culture, Isoenzyme Patterns and Plastid DNA in the Genus Daucus". In Vitro.
  5. Ogren, Thomas Leo. (2015). "The Allergy-Fighting Garden". Ten Speed Press.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

daucusapioideaeapioideae-generataxa-described-in-1753botanical-taxa-named-by-carl-linnaeus