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Latin name: Daucus carota
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Family: Umbelliferae, parsley family
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Common name: wild carrot
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Life cycle: biennial. In first year
it produces a rosette, in second year it blooms and dies.
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Habit: During the first year, the
rosette is bushy and mounded, 4 to 6 inches tall and up to 18 inches in
diameter. During the second year, flower stalks can grow up to 3 feet
in height.
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Foliage: Alternate, finely dissected,
and pubescent. When leaves are crushed, some believe they smell like
carrots.
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Flower: Small, white, each with
5 petals. Flower clusters are called umbels, and each umbel contains
many individual flowers. Umbels form at the terminal end of flower
stalks.
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Seedlings: Cotyledons are long and narrow,
and in the absence of first true leaves, may be mistaken for grasses. First
true leaves are deeply dissected.
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