Carum carvi
 
Caraway

Very Early Fruit

Duck Mountain Provincial Park
27-June-2007

Note the two styles arising from the two-lobed stylopodium.  Stylopodia are often found in members of the Umbelliferae family.  Note that the fruit is flattened parallel to the plane containing the two styles, not at right angles to it.  Note also the conspicuous ribs on the ovary.

As the ovary matures, it will develop into a schizocarp.  A schizocarp is a fruit which eventually splits into sub-fruits.  Each of the two locules of the schizocarp will split into a mesocarp that completely encloses a single seed.  Each mesocarp will be suspended by a slender stalk known as a carpophore.

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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]