Daucus

(dau'kus.) (Bot.) The Carrot, a gen. of dwarf weedy-looking plants, O. Apiaceæ, having thin deeply cut pinnatifid leaves; and flower-sten is rising from 2 to 3ft. high, and bearing in a terminal umbel a number of small white or rose-colored flowers. All the varieties cultivated as a vegetable have for common stock D. carota, a European biennial naturalized in the U. S., and found in light sandy soils. As an esculent, the Carrot was known to the ancients; and Pliny says that the best came to Rome from Candia. Scarcely any vegetable is better known, or in greater demand for culinary purposes. Its root contains a large portion of saccharine matter, and is used in soups and stews, as well as a vegetable dish during winter. [s. 266]