Caucalis | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Apiales |
Family: | Apiaceae |
Subfamily: | Apioideae |
Tribe: | Scandiceae |
Subtribe: | Torilidinae |
Genus: | Caucalis L. |
Species: | C. platycarpos
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Binomial name | |
Caucalis platycarpos | |
Synonyms[1] | |
List
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Caucalis platycarpos is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, the only member of the genus Caucalis. Common names are carrot bur parsley,[2] small bur-parsley,[3] and burr parsley.[4] It is native to Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East as far east as Iran.[5][6]
Caucalis platycarpos is an annual up to 40 cm (16 in) tall with trailing stems. Leaves are highly divided into many small leaflets. Flowers are produced in an umbel of 2 to 5 flowers, each with white or pink petals. The fruit is an oblong capsule with many hooked spines on the surface.[5][7]
It is distributed in southwest Asia, North Africa and most of central and Southern Europe; almost all of the Iberian Peninsula.
It is found in crop fields, fallows and nitrophilous grasslands. Preferably in basic substrates at an altitude of 100-1000 (1600) meters. Flowering occurs in March - June (July) and fruiting in May - August.