Some Notes on… Carrots Dominic Maze, Biologist City of Portland Environmental Services 01/16/20 Apiaceae
• We’ll talk about the carrot family and discuss some native and exotic species • Issues: many look very similar and it’s a big family • And a bunch are really weedy • And a bunch are pretty toxic • And a bunch are pretty rare • Culturally important, too
Environmental Services l Carrot Family 2 Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) • “Apium”-classical name for celery • Remarkable floral conservation o 5 distinct petals (usually small/white, umbels). Reduced sepals. • And vegetative, too o Hollow stems, sheathing petioles, divided lvs., tuberous roots • So great for recognizing family, not so great for generic or specific ID • All fruits (here) ridged in 2 parts • Without fruits…kinda tough
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Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) • Leaves: dissected, “solid”, “ferny”, sheathed, hairy (top and bottom)? Alternate. • Stem: hairy, blotched, ridged, hollow, swollen nodes? • How tall? • Where is it growing? • Flowers: clustered, rays, color, shape? • Fruits: shape (pointy, flat), smooth, ribbed, stylopodium? • Smell? Environmental Services l Carrot Family Last pic: colinherb.com 4
Exotic/native “carrots” • “The internet may not be your friend.” [unless it’s pnwherbaria.org, itis.gov, or oregonflora.org, etc.] • So many species: we’ll focus on genera with IS/lookalikes. Many native genera of importance
Environmental Services l Carrot Family 5 Torilis spp. • ‘hedge-parsley’- Several species: • T. japonica: weed du jour • Been here a while (1976). Pretty weedy. Shaded areas into open • T. arvensis: real threat imo. Open areas. Oaks. Rare plants • Several other species waifs or headed up from CA. • Fruit prickles and ray bracts. • Ray bracts/leaf better..
Environmental Services l Carrot Family 6 Osmorhiza spp. • ‘sweet cicely’ • Several species: O. occidentalis, purpurea, berteroi. • Co-occurs with Torilis. Esp. japonica • “leaf terminal segments small and narrow in Torilis”. Fruit pretty different. • Please don’t spray.
Environmental Services l Carrot Family 7 Chaerophyllum temulum
• ‘rough chervil’. “Poisonous”. (to people?) • Man, sure looks like a bunch of other species… styles divergent, glabrous • Hammered Ross Island • Seed smooth and ridged
Pics: King Co., Flora Emslandia Environmental Services l Carrot Family 8 Chaerophyllum temulum
• ‘rough chervil’. “Poisonous”. (to people?) • Man, sure looks like a bunch of other species… styles divergent, glabrous • Hammered Ross Island • Seed smooth and ridged • Limited distribution?
Pics: King Co., Flora Emslandia Environmental Services l Carrot Family 9 Anthriscus sylvestris
• ‘cow parsley’- looks very similar to the previous species, flowers 1st (?) • Fruits with spines, right? Please? Beaked tip? • Purple botchy stems (absence) best way to differentiate. • Does it matter? • Lots more out there, assumed to be Conium.
Environmental Services l Carrot Family 10 Anthriscus caucalis
• ‘bur chervil’
• Wet/moist areas. Annual. Well established • Ring of hairs at base of fruit • Smaller plant and fruit than former; fruit beaked unlike Torilis • Chemical control? Is it ED/RR? You better have a good plan (like the other annuals)
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Myrrhis odorata • ‘sweet cicely’
• Not too common • Smells like licorice • Occasional on roadsides, trails
Environmental Services l Carrot Family 12 Conium maculatum
• ‘poison hemlock’
• Gotta mention this dude… fatalities pretty rare, tho • Seemingly everywhere in our area open and disturbed, biennial • Finely divided leaves, purplish stems, “the stink”. Pretty tall • Seeds no stylopodium, small (and cheap!) • Management?
Environmental Services l Carrot Family 13 Daucus carota
• ‘Queen Anne’s lace’, ‘wild carrot’ • Fairly ubiquitous in open areas, old fields, Valley roadsides. Mid-disturbance… • Umbels dense, end up flat • Seed articulated, smells like carrots. Duh. • Manage? • Lots of vitamin A!
2nd ,3rd, 6th Pic: en.Wikipedia.org Environmental Services l Carrot Family 14 Daucus pusillus
• ‘rattlesnake weed’,
• Annual. Wimpier; umbellets 5-12 flowered vs. ~15-20 for D. carota • Quite uncommon (now) in our area • Really hard to find a good (trustworthy) pic online
2nd Pic: utexas.edu Environmental Services l Carrot Family 15 Heracleum mantegazzianum
• Named after Italian botanist
• Big. Anise odor. • Famous? • Biennial to perennial. • You all probably know it’s a priority • Hairy bumps on stem, rounded “head”, jagged leaves (compared to native) • In a world of IS hyperbole, take this one seriously Environmental Services l Carrot Family 16 Heracleum maximum
• Our native cow parsnip
• Smaller, less dissected leaves • 10-40 umbellets vs. 50-100 • Inevitable confusion when GH hits the news • Parsnip odor • Can cause burns too
Environmental Services l Carrot Family 17 Natives to be sought
• Perideridia gaidneri (Not this pic from a university) • West-side Lomatium • Angelica (arguta & genuflexa) • Ligusticum (apiifolium & grayi) • Sanicula (crassicaulis & bipinnatifida) • This makes this a 24kt talk.
Environmental Services l Carrot Family 18 Apiaceae
• Shameless Plug: • https://tinyurl.com/u7yc5h6 • Questions?
Environmental Services l Carrot Family 19 Dominic Maze [email protected]
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