Carum carvi
 
Caraway

Leaf at Base of Upper Branch, Bottom

Duck Mountain Provincial Park
27-June-2007

Note the sheathing base.

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Carum: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora (BF) and Flora of Alberta (FOA) leading to this genus. 
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plants with a taproot; NOT [plants with tuberous roots]

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plants generally 3-5 dm tall; NOT [plants less than 3 dm tall, usually 1-2 dm], NOT [plants generally more than 5 dm tall] (FOA)

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plants to 1 m high; NOT [stout plants to 3 m high] (BF)

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plants NOT with a bluish tinge

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stem NOT purple-blotched

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plants with stem leaves; NOT [plants scapose]

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lower stem leaves alternate, stem leaves sometimes opposite in the inflorescence; NOT [lower stem leaves opposite, most leaves basal]

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lowest leaves (and the upper) compound; NOT [lowest leaves simple] (FOA)

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leaves 2 or more times pinnate or ternate; NOT [leaves once pinnate] (FOA)

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leaves much divided, with leaflets or segments numerous; NOT [leaves simple or divided into few well-developed leaflets] (BF)

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leaf segments more than 5; NOT [leaf segments few, usually 5] (BF)

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foliage NOT spiny (BF)

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NOT [leaves usually trifoliolate, leaflets palmate, 10-30 cm wide] (FOA)

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NOT [leaves palmate with 5-7 large leaflets] (FOA)

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foliage NOT digitately compound (BF)

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plants lacking axillary bulblets; NOT [plants with axillary bulblets largely replacing flowers]

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inflorescence NOT bluish

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flowers NOT in dense globose heads

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umbel compound; NOT [umbel simple]

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umbel many-flowered; NOT [umbel few-flowered]

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involucral bracts small; NOT [involucral bracts large]

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involucral bracts slightly or not dissected; NOT [involucral bracts pinnately dissected]

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involucral bracts NOT spiny

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flowers white or pinkish; NOT [flowers yellow]

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fruit oblong to elliptical; NOT [fruit linear to clavate]

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fruit about twice as long as broad; NOT [fruit about as long as broad or slightly longer] , NOT [fruit several times longer than broad]

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fruits flattened laterally (parallel to the styles); NOT [fruits flattened dorsally (at right angles to the styles]

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fruit NOT covered with short, hooked spines

 

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Umbelliferae: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora  leading to this family. 
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herbs; NOT [shrubs or trees]

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plants terrestrial or semiaquatic; NOT [plants aquatic, leaves submerged or floating]

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plants NOT with colored milky juice

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stems hollow

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plants with more than one normal leaf

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some or all leaves alternate; NOT [leaves opposite, whorled, or basal]

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leaves without stipules, or having glands; NOT [leaves with stipules]

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flowers in umbels

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parts of flowers mostly in fives; NOT [parts of flowers in twos or fours]

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flowers with two floral rings, and with each petal distinct from the others]

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calyx regular; NOT [calyx irregular, some sepals smaller than others]

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stamens 10 or fewer; NOT [stamens usually more than 10]

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ovary inferior

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styles 2; NOT [styles 5]