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The Western Australian Herbarium’s collections management system and census were set to read-only mode on 1 October 2025. Taxonomic updates published since this time are not being reflected in Florabase, herbarium collections, or Western Australia’s taxonomic names census (Nomos). Conservation listings displayed on Florabase may also be out of date. Please refer to DBCA’s Threatened species and communities webpage for the most recent Threatened and Priority Flora List, noting that recent taxonomic updates are similarly not included. Our database migration is moving to a staging phase. We thank you for your patience as we ensure the integrity of our biodiversity data, develop new workflows, and train staff to use the new systems. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns.

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Pastinaca L.

Reference
Sp.Pl. [Linnaeus] 2:262 (1753)
Name Status
Current

Scientific Description

Family Apiaceae.

Habit and leaf form. Herbs; bearing essential oils, or without essential oils (?); resinous, or not resinous (?). Biennial, or perennial; plants with a basal concentration of leaves, or with neither basal nor terminal concentrations of leaves (?). Stem internodes hollow. Usually with a taproot. Helophytic, or mesophytic. Leaves small to large; alternate; ‘herbaceous’; petiolate. Petioles sheathing. Leaves more or less sheathing. Leaf sheaths with free margins. Leaves gland-dotted, or not gland-dotted (?); aromatic; compound, or simple (rarely); pulvinate, or epulvinate (?); pinnate. Leaflets oblong, or ovate, or obtriangular. Leaf blades pinnately veined. Leaves without stipules. Leaf blade margins serrate, or dentate. Leaves without a persistent basal meristem. Leaf anatomy. Hairs present. Stem anatomy. Nodes multilacunar, or tri-lacunar (?). Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring, or anomalous (?); from a single cambial ring.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite, or hermaphrodite and functionally male (sometimes in the same umbel). Unisexual flowers present, or absent. Plants hermaphrodite, or andromonoecious. Entomophilous.

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’. Inflorescence few-flowered. Flowers in umbels. Inflorescences compound. The terminal inflorescence unit cymose, or racemose (?). Inflorescences terminal and axillary; pedunculate; ray bracts present, caducous; with involucral bracts, or without involucral bracts (?). Flowers pedicellate; bracteate, or ebracteate. Bracts when present, deciduous (few). Flowers bracteolate, or ebracteolate; small; regular to somewhat irregular (?); 5 merous (except for the gynoecium); cyclic; tetracyclic, or tricyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla (but the calyx very reduced), or petaline; 5, or 10; 2 -whorled, or 1 -whorled; isomerous; yellow, or red. Calyx present to vestigial, or absent; when detectable, 5; 1 -whorled; gamosepalous. Corolla 5; 1 -whorled; polypetalous; valvate; unequal but not bilabiate, or regular (?); yellow, or red. Corolla members entire (apex truncate, incurved). Androecium 5. Androecial members free of the perianth; all equal to markedly unequal (?); free of one another; 1 -whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 5; isomerous with the perianth; oppositisepalous; inflexed in bud. Anthers dehiscing via longitudinal slits; introrse; tetrasporangiate. Fertile gynoecium present, or absent (male flowers). Gynoecium 2 carpelled. The pistil 2 celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synovarious; inferior. Ovary plurilocular; 2 locular. Gynoecium median. Epigynous disk present. Gynoecium stylate. Styles 2; free to partially joined (their bases thickened into a depressed-conical stylopodium crowning the ovary); apical. Stigmas wet type; non-papillate; Group IV type. Placentation axile, or apical (?). Ovules 1 per locule, or 2 per locule (usually two, but one abortive ?); pendulous; epitropous; non-arillate; anatropous.

Fruit and seed features. Fruit non-fleshy; a schizocarp. Mericarps 2 (the lateral ridges forming a wing bordering the fruit). Seeds endospermic. Endosperm oily. Embryo well differentiated. Cotyledons 2. Embryo achlorophyllous; straight. Seedling. Germination phanerocotylar.

Physiology, biochemistry. Aluminium accumulation not found. Photosynthetic pathway: C3.

Geography, cytology, number of species. Adventive. Australian states and territories: Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania.

Economic uses, etc. Important food plant (parsnip).