Family: Carrot [Umbelliferae / Apiaceae]


Aegopodium

Aethusa

Ammi

Anethum

Angelica

Anthriscus

Apium

Astrantia

Berula

Bifora

Bunium

Bupleurum

Carum

Caucalis

Chaerophyllum

Ciclospermum

Cicuta

Conium

Conopodium

Coriandrum

Crithmum

Cuminum

Daucus

Eryngium

Falcaria

Ferula

Foeniculum

Heracleum

Imperatoria

Laser

Laserpitium

Levisticum

Ligusticum

Meum

Myrrhis

Oenanthe

Orlaya

Pastinaca

Petroselinum

Peucedanum

Physospermum

Pimpinella

Ridolfia

Sanicula

Scandix

Selinum

Seseli

Silaum

Silphium

Sison

Sium

Smyrnium

Thyselium

Tordylium

Torilis

Trachyspermum

Trinia

Turgenia

The Carrot Family is a very diverse group, but nearly all of them have the characteristic umbel, sometimes flat-topped otherwise curved, of tiny flowers. Those that do not have the characteristic umbel are atypical umbellifers; there may be a dozen of those.

Many synthesize unusual and diverse compounds. Typical of these are spices used in curries produced by such umbellifers as Caraway, Coriander, Cumin; or herbs used in cooking such as Fennel, Chervil, Scots Lovage, and (garden) Parsley; or others used in dishes such as celery, (edible) carrot, parsnip, (garden) Angelica, Field Eryngo and Pignut.

Yet many other umbellifers are deadly poisonous. The poisonous umbellifers include Giant Hogweed which contains such dangerously photo-toxic compounds as furocoumarins (synonymous with furanocoumarins).

There are two families of furanocoumarins, linear furanocoumarins based on psoralen, and angular furanocoumarins based on angelicin.

The pre-cursor to the furanocoumarins is coumarine itself, which smells of new-mown hay, is found in Lady's Bedstraw and is mostly harmless. It is shown for comparison only.

Umbelliferone is another example of a coumarine. Umbelliferone, as its name suggests, occurs in a number of Umbellifers such as Carrot, Wild Angelica and Coriander as well as flowers from some other families such as that of Mouse-ear Hawkweed. Like Scopoletin, Umbelliferone is also used in sunscreening suncreams, but is probably photomutagenic, being activated by the same UV light that it absorbs! It is used as an optical brightener in white textiles, which works by way of UV fluorescence in the blue region of the spectrum.

Hemlock [not yet linked to] contains the deadly poisonous alkaloid coniine which must be one of the the simplest alkaloids known. Socrates knowingly poisoned himself when he drank an infusion of Hemlock from a cup. The neurotoxin Coniine contributes to the feotid smell of Hemlock.


Hemlock Water-Dropwort contains the toxic compound oenanthotoxin.
Cowbane the chemically very similar cicutoxin.

These are both polyacetylenes with highly-energetic triple bonded carbon atoms, unusual in the natural world. Polyynes are poisonous, binding to several proteins.

Ivy is another plant that contains other compounds with triple-bonded carbon atoms (Falcarinols), but Ivy is not an umbellifer.

!! This is not an exhaustive list of all poisonous umbellifers !!

Most umbellifers have several umbels of flowers, often compound umbels. Many often have a ring of bracts just underneath the umbel, and sometimes bracteoles underneath the sub-umbel (but both bracts and bracteoles are variable and can be either present or absent in some species).

Usually the most striking property of the umbels is that the inner one(s) seem to be different to the outer ones in many species of umbellifer. This is because the inner umbels of these umbellifers have all bisexual (hermaphroditic) flowers, whereas the flowers on the outer umbels are all male. Thus only flowers on the inner umbels of these umbellifers will turn into fruit. There is only one umbellifer that is dioecious, with separate male and female plants, being Honewort (Trinia glauca), but even on this umbellifer the separation of the male and female flowers on separate plants is often incomplete.

Some umbellifers are atypical of the genera, apparently lacking obvious umbels. Typical of these is Sea-Holly, Field Eryngo, Masterwort, Pink Masterwort, Slender Hare's-ear, the much rarer Small Hare's-ear, False Thorow-wax, the extinct (in the wild) Thorow-wax, Marsh Pennywort and Floating Pennywort and to a less obvious extent Sanicle.



[HERACLEUM] Hogweeds

Hogweed. (Heracleum sphondylium) Photo: © RWD

Giant Hogweed.(Heracleum mantegazzianum) Photo: © RWD



[MYRRHIS] Sweet Cicely

Sweet Cicely. (Myrrhis odorata) Photo: © RWD



[FOENICULUM] Fennel

Fennel. (Foeniculum vulgare) Photo: © RWD



[DAUCUS] Carrots

Wild Carrot. (Daucus carota) Photo: © RWD

Sea Carrot (Daucus carota ssp. gummifer) Photo: © RWD

Moon Carrot (Seseli libanotis)



[AEGOPODIUM] Ground-elder

Ground-Elder (Aegopodium podagraria) Photo: © RWD



[ASTRANTIA] Astrantia

Astrantia. (Astrantia major) Photo: © RWD



[ERYNGIUM] Sea-hollies

Sea-Holly. (Eryngium maritimum) Photo: © RWD

Mediterranean Sea-Holly (Eryngium bourgatii) Photo: © RWD

Field Eryngo (Eryngium campestre) Photo: © Dawn Nelson

Blue Eryngo (Eryngium planum) Photo: © RWD



[CRITHMUM] Rock Samphire

Rock Samphire. (Crithmum maritimum) Photo: © RWD



[SANICULA] Sanicle

Sanicle (Sanicula europaea) Photo: © RWD



[PASTINACA] Parsnips

Wild Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) Photo: © RWD

 

[Aethusa]
WATER-CRESS HYBRID CHART
[Aethusa]
WATER-CRESS
HYBRIDS
BSBI MAPS
Lesser
Marshwort

(inundatum)
Fool's-
Water-cress

(nodiflorum)
Creeping
Marshwort

(repens)
Creeping
Marshwort

(repens)
  nodiflorum
×
repens
Fool's-
Water-cress

(nodiflorum)
Aethusa
×
moorei
nodiflorum
×
repens
Lesser
Marshwort

(inundatum)
Aethusa
×
moorei
 

Aethusa SPECIES LACKING HYBRIDS
(Aethusa cynapium subsp. agrestis) Fool's Parsley
(Aethusa cynapium subsp. cynapium) Fool's Parsley
(Aethusa cynapium subsp. elata)
(Aethusa graveolens) Wild Celery
(Aethusa graveolens var. dulce) Celery

Fool's Parsley (Aethusa cynapium) Photo: © Bastiaan Brak



[AMMI] Bullworts

Bullwort (Ammi majus) Photo: © Dawn Nelson



[ANTHRISCUS] Chervils

Bur Chervil (Anthriscus caucalis) Photo: © RWD



[CHAEROPHYLLUM] Chervils

Rough Chervil (Chaerophyllum temulum) Photo: © RWD



[PETROSELINUM] Parsleys

Garden Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) Photo: © RWD



[SMYRNIUM] Alexanders

Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum) Photo: © RWD



[ANGELICA] Angelicas

Wild Angelica (Angelica sylvestris) Photo: (CC by 2.0) Geoff Toone

Garden Angelica (Angelica archangelica) Photo: © RWD



[CONOPODIUM] Pignut

Pignut (Conopodium majus) Photo: © RWD



[OENANTHE] Water-Dropworts

Fine-leaved Water-dropwort, unlike all other Water-dropworts except River Water-dropwort, does not have tubers on the roots. Both are aquatic, the first occupying still water or slowly-flowing river water, the second either ascending or floating in slow-flowing rivers.

But the leaves of River Water-dropwort (and those of Tubular Water-dropwort, Cork-fruited Water-dropwort, Parsley Water-dropwort and Hemlock Water-dropwort [sometimes 4-pinnate]) are only 1-3 pinnate (rather than the 2-4 pinnate of Fine-leaved Water-dropwort and the 1-4 pinnate of Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort)

Fine-leaved Water-dropwort also has hollow stems like all other Water-dropworts apart from Parsley Water-dropwort and Cork-fruited Water-dropwort (which both have stems either solid with pith to 'hollow to some extent').

[Both Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort and Tubular Water-dropwort have hollow stems but the walls of the stems are very thin]

All Water-dropworts either have (no bracts (Tubular Water-dropwort) or usually no bracts) beneath the umbels apart from Cork-fruited Water-dropwort which has between 1 and 5 bracts beneath the umbels.

Hemlock Water-dropwort is one of the most toxic plants in the UK with the toxins able to penetrate the skin, the other members of this genus are less toxic but your Author is always very careful in handling them!

Hemlock Water-Dropwort (Oenanthe crocata) Photo: © RWD

Parsley Water-Dropwort (Oenanthe lachenalii) Photo: © RWD

Tubular Water-Dropwort (Oenanthe fistulosa) Photo: © RWD

Fine-Leaved Water-Dropwort (Oenanthe aquatica) Photo: © RWD

Corky-Fruited Water-Dropwort (Oenanthe pimpinelloides) Photo: © Dawn Nelson



[BERULA] Lesser Water-Parsnip

Lesser Water-Parsnip (Berula erecta) Photo: © RWD



[APIUM] Marshworts

Fool's-Water-cress (Apium nodiflorum) Photo: © RWD

Lesser Marshwort (Apium inundatum) Photo: © Dawn Nelson

Wild Celery (Apium graveolens) Photo: © RWD



[SISON] Stone Parsley

Stone Parsley (Sison amomum) Photo: (CC by 2.0) Mike Adams



[TORILIS] Hedge-Parsleys

Upright Hedge-Parsley (Torilis japonica) Photo: © RWD

Spreading Hedge-Parsley (Torilis arvensis) Photo: © Bastiaan Brak

Knotted Hedge-Parsley (Torilis nodosa) Photo: © RWD



[PIMPINELLA] Burnet-Saxifrages

Burnet-Saxifrage (Pimpinella saxifraga) Photo: © RWD

Greater Burnet-Saxifrage (Pimpinella major) Photo: © RWD



[CONIUM] Hemlock

In the UK Hemlock is the only plant in this genus, and possibly in the whole world.

Hemlock (Conium maculatum) Photo: © RWD



[SCANDIX] Shepherd's-Needle

Shepherd's-Needle (Scandix pecten-veneris) Photo: © Bastiaan Brak



[CARUM] Caraways

Whorled Caraway (Carum verticulatum) Photo: (CC by 2.0) Geoff Toone



[LEVISTICUM] Lovage

Lovage (Levisticum officinale) Photo: © RWD



[LIGUSTICUM] Carrot

Scots Lovage (Ligusticum scoticum) Photo: © RWD


[IMPERATORIA] Masterwort

Masterwort (Imperatoria ostruthium) Photo: © Dawn Nelson


[TRINIA] Honewort

Honewort (Trinia glauca) Photo: © Phillip Bagshaw

Family: Carrot [Umbelliferae / Apiaceae]

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