Apiaceae

Botanical name: Carrot family or Celery or Parsley family or Umbelliferae

Important genera

Family includes 434 genera and about 3700 species.

Example genera:

• Ligusticum

• Bunium

• Sium

• Aegopodium (Goutweed)

• Foeniculum (Fennels)

• Osmorhiza (Sweet cicely, sweetcicely, or sweetroot)

• Sanicula

• Coriandrum

• Cryptotaenia (Honewort)

• Ammi

Characteristics:

Vegetative characters

Root system: tap root system- large enough to store the useful food materials.

For example: carrot and parsnip

Stem: hollow at the points where the leaves are attached. Usually soft, green, aerial.

The nodes of the stem are swollen.

Leaf: Leaves are alternate, exstipulate, pinnately compound or palmately lobed with reticulate
venation.

Leaf petiole is broadened with sheath surrounding stem or base of leaf.

Floral characters

Inflorescence: The flowering head is usually a simple or compound ‘umbel’, but it can be
reduced to a single flower in some species.

This flat-topped umbel resembles a flattened umbrella structure.

Wherein:

The primary umbel is surrounded by an involucre of bracts and secondary umbel is subtended
by bractlets.

Flower: Flowers are arranged in umbels or double umbels.

Flowers are many, small, white or yellow in color.

Fruit: The fruit can be divided into 2 parts.

Mericarps

Cremocarp- is made up of two one-seeded carpels called as mericarps.

Seed: Seeds are endospermic with a small embryo. The endosperm may be flat, crescent or
concave on the ventral side.
Economic Importance

Many plants of this family are condiments or vegetables with some of them having medicinal
properties.

1. Food source

• Condiments

• spice

• vegetable

• flavoring of foods, liqueurs, and confectionery (herb).

2. Medicinal properties

• Diuretic

• stimulating

• antimicrobial

• antioxidant

• anti- inflammatory

• antihypertensive

• treat bronchitis, hepatitis, gastrointestinal infections, and asthma (Apium graveolens L. or

celery)

• antibacterial and antifungal

Examples and their products:

Parsley (Petroselinum crispum)

- Parsley Seed Skin Care

Celery (Apium graveolens)

- Celery Juice Powder

Wild carrot (Daucus carota)

- Wild Carrot Herbals' Soulshine Day Cream

Cilantro (Coriandrum sativum)

- Organic Cilantro Tincture

Chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium)

- McCormick Chervil Leaves