Comparative Fruit Morphology and Anatomy of Wild Relatives of Carrot (Daucus, Apiaceae)

Fruit morphological and anatomical characteristics are essential in the taxonomy of Apiaceae. Daucus L. is one most important genera family Apiaceae, as it contains cultivated carrot, a crop great economic importance, about 40 wild species that could serve potential sources genetic diversity for improvement. However, taxonomic phylogenetic relationships among these have not yet been fully clarified. In this study, we comparatively investigated fruit morphology anatomy 13 taxa four closely related non-Daucus using light scanning electron microscopy to evaluate value characteristics. A wide range variations was observed morpho-anatomical across revealed several diagnostically valuable features, thus proving be taxonomically useful. For Daucus, differences included size (2.1–8.4 mm), shape (from ellipsoid oblong), weight (0.079–1.349 g/100 fruits), well surface sculpturing some characteristics, i.e., presence/absence vittae, vascular bundles, exocarp cells. This study contributes better understanding genus Daucus.