1434 Daucus carota L.

This variable species occurs as a spontaneous or subspontaneous plant in Europe, N. Africa and partly Asia. Besides the common, widely cultivated vegetable, subsp. sativus (Hoffm.) Arcang., there are several subspecies distinguished (Fl. Eur. 2/1968, p. 374), each having a rather distinct distribution area in Europe. It is difficult, or often impossible to judge, whether an occurrence is indigenous or not. The species has been introduced and naturalized in N. America. With its present distribution the species s. lat. belongs to the discontinuous circumpolar plants (Hultén, Circumpol. Il, p. 202, 386 and map 194). Cf. also Meusel et al. 1978, map p. 322.