Apiaceae

Plant Characteristics

Cultivation

Scientific Names

Read about Apiaceae in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Umbelliferae (from the predominating type of flower cluster). Parsley Family. Fig. 45. Herbs or rarely shrubs: stems often hollow: leaves alternate, rarely simple, usually ternately or pinnately compound: flowers minute, bisexual, regular or the outer irregular, epigynous; borne in simple or compound umbels: sepals minute or wanting; petals 5, valvate and incurved in the bud; stamens 5, alternating with the petals, inserted around an epigynous disk; ovary 2-celled, inferior, each cell 1-seeded; styles 2: fruit very special, consisting of 2 dry, ribbed or winged, 1-seeded, indehiscent carpels (mericarps), which separate at the base but remain attached at the top to a very slender and flexuous Y-shaped stalk (carpophore) from which they dangle; between or under the ribs are oil-tubes. About 231 genera and 1,500 species are very commonly found in all boreal temperate and subtropical lands, but are rare in the tropics except in the mountains. The Umbelliferae is a distinct family, closely related to the Araliaceae, and more distantly to the Cornaceae. The umbels, the inferior ovary and the peculiar fruit are distinctive. The leaves are exceedingly diverse in size, shape and extent to which compounded. Those of Eryngium are sword-shaped, or yucca-like, often spiny; those of Hydrocotyle are simple and often peltate. Azorella of the Andes and New Zealand is turf-like or cushion-like, a xerophytic adaptation. Some species of Angelica are immense herbs many feet high with enormous leaves. The flowers, in general, are uniform in structure and appearance, the greatest diversity being in the fruit. Economic plants are abundant in the Umbelliferae; between 40 and 50 have been listed by some authors. Various alkaloids and other compounds, some very poisonous, together with many kinds of resins, produced in the foliage, roots or seeds, form the basis of their economic importance. Plants used for food are celery (Apium graveolens), carrot (Daucus Carota), and parsley (Petroselinum sativum). Those used for flavoring are caraway (Carum Carui), anise (Pimpinella Anisum), sweet Cicely (Osmorhiza or Scandix), chervil (Anthriscus Cerefolium), dill (Anethum grareolens), fennel (Foeniculum vulare), lovage (Levisticum officinale). Very poisonous plants are poison hemlock (Conium maculatum), fool's parsley (Aethusa Cynapium) and others. The following drugs are obtained from this family: coriander (Coriandrum sativum), ammoniac resin (from Dorema Ammaniacum), galbanum (a resin from species of Ferula). From various species of Ferula is obtained the vile-smelling gum-resin asafetida, used in medicine, which the Persians are said to praise as a delicious condiment. There are 40-50 genera in cultivation in America, mostly hardy. Some are grown for food, others for ornament: Sea Holly (Eryngium); Sanicle, or locally Black Snakeroot (Sanicula); Carrot (Daucus); Coriander (Coriandrum); Cumin (Cuminum); Celery (Apium); Caraway (Carum); Gout-weed (Aegopodium); Sweet Cicely (Osmorhiza); Myrrh (not of medicine) or European Sweet Cicely (Myrrhis or, more properly, Scandix); Fennel (Foeniculum); Lovage (Levisticum); Angelica (Angelica); Cow-parsnip(Heracleum). Poison hemlock (Conium) is a roadside weed. CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

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References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

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