carrot, native

Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris

1) Daucus brachiatus, Sieb., N.O. Umbelliferae. Not endemic in Australia.


1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 64:

«The native carrot . . . was here withered and in seed.»

1889. J. H. Maiden, `Useful Native Plants,' p. 124:

«Native carrot. Stock are very fond of this plant when young.Sheep thrive wonderfully on it where it is plentiful. It is asmall annual herbaceous plant, growing plentifully on sandhillsand rich soil; the seeds, locally termed `carrot burrs,' arevery injurious to wool, the hooked spines with which the seedsare armed attaching themselves to the fleece, renderingportions of it quite stiff and rigid. The common carrotbelongs, of course, to this genus, and the fact that it isdescended from an apparently worthless, weedy plant, indicatesthat the present species is capable of much improvement bycultivation.»

2) In Tasmania Geranium dissectum, Linn., is alsocalled «native carrot.»

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