Description: Annual or biennial herbs, with a taproot, hispid.
Leaves 2–3-pinnate.
Inflorescence terminal, a compound umbel; central flowers often sterile and reduced to purplish or black bristles; bracts several, 3-pinnatisect or entire, or lacking. Flowers bisexual, white, yellow or purple. Sepals small or absent. Petals obovate, 2-lobed with an inflexed apex. Stylopodium conical.
Fruit oblong-ovoid, cylindrical or dorsally slightly compressed, usually bristly and enveloping the stylopodium and style with spines; carpophore entire or bifid; mericarp with 5 filiform ciliate primary ribs and 4 stouter secondary ribs usually with a single row of bristles.
Distribution and occurrence: World: 50–60 species, cosmopolitan. Australia: 2 or 3 species, (1 species endemic), all States.
Text by B. M. Wiecek & S. M. Hastings
Taxon concept:
| | Key to the species | |
| 1 | Umbels usually with more than 6 regular rays, bearing many-flowered umbellules forming a flat-topped umbel when flowering | Daucus carota |
| Umbels with 2–5 unequal rays, bearing 2–6-flowered umbellules and forming an irregular umbel | Daucus glochidiatus |
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