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Order: Apiales
Family: Apiaceae
Common name: Gajor (Beng.); wild carrot, bird's nest, bishop's lace, Queen Anne's lace & Carrot (Eng.).
Life cycle: Biennial
Native Range: Native to temperate regions of Europe, southwest Asia and naturalised to northeast North America and Australia. Daucus carota is a flowering plant. It is a variable biennial plant, usually growing up to 1 m tall and flowering from June to August. The umbels are claret-coloured or pale pink before they open, then bright white and rounded when in full flower, measuring 3–7 cm wide with a festoon of bracts beneath. It is distinguished by a mix of bi-pinnate and tri-pinnate leaves, fine hairs on its stems and leaves, a root that smells like carrots, and occasionally a single dark red flower in its center.
The juice of the root has long been used as a diuretic, and to expel intestinal parasites. The vitamins It contains are useful for good night vision among other things. Their seeds are eaten to relieve flatulence. |
