Online Flora of the Maltese Islands by Stephen Mifsud
 
     
   6 Aug 2026      ()
External Links:
 


Daucus carota subsp. sativus   (Carrot)


Daucus carota subsp. sativus  (APIACEAE.) 
Images for this profile are taken from the Maltese Islands after year 2000.


Website launch: Oct-2002   Taxonomic update: Aug-2026    Code update: Jul-2026

Page Contents + Links

 
General Information Species Images
External Links Support and sales
Submit information Facebook community
Sponsors & Adverts Copyright notes
Apiaceae Index Plant Family Index
 
This page is brought to you by one of the website's sponsors.
[read more...]
Datasheet Publication: Dec-2007 (last update: none)
Citation for this page Mifsud, S. (2007). Online Flora of the Maltese Islands (2002-2026): Daucus carota subsp. sativus - datasheet published on Dec-2007. Retrieved on 06-Aug-2026 from https://www.MaltaWildPlants.com/APIA/#APIA

Nomenclature and General Information

Species name :

Daucus carota subsp. sativus(Hoffm.) Arcang.
Published in Comp. Fl. Ital. 299 (1882)

Synonyms :
(basionym or principal syn.)

Daucus sativus (Hoffm.) Röhl. ex Pass.
Full list of synonyms : [Euro+Med] [WFO] [IPNI] [POWO] [Catalogue of Life] [Worldplants.de]

Plant Family :

Apiaceae Lindl. (The Carrot Family) Previously included in Umbelliferea
34 species from the Apiaceae family are recorded from the Maltese Islands.

English name(s) :

Carrot

Maltese name(s) :

Zunnarija, Karrotti

Status for Malta :

Cultivated species. Introduced plants cultivated for agricultural or horticultural purposes but sometimes can be occassionaly found as an escapee close to the site of their original cultivation.

Frequency :

Data not available - casual or short-lived in the wild from accidental garden or agriculture escape

Growth form :

Germination type [info]: Dicotyledon
Raunkiaer lifeform [info]: Hemicryptophyte ( perennial herbaceous plants with vegetative buds close to the ground )

Legal Protection :

Not legally protected till the last update of this website (22/Aug/2025)

Red List (1989) :

Not listed in the Red Data Book of the Maltese Islands

Flowering Time :

March – May

Colour of Flowers:

White

Toxicity:

Not particularly toxic

Name Derivation :

Daucus: ()
carota subsp. sativus: ()

Planting in rural areas :

Can be planted in rural areas according to ERA Guidelines

Remarks :

Domesticated from the wild carrot Daucus carota subsp. carota. It differs from its wild ancestor by being a shorter plant having larger, more palatable, less woody-textured edible taproots. It is also a smaller plant and more manageable for cultivation. Possibly originated from Persia and got distributed in Europe long time ago where now it widely cultivated in open fields.


Description, Habitat and Distribution
Botanical Description Very similar to Daucus carota subsp. carota but is a smaller and lower plant with a large edible taproot, normally orange, but different colours such as yellow white or blackish-purple in other varieties and cultivars.
Habitat in Europe Cultivated throughout most of Europe for its edible root
Preferred habitat in Malta Frequent in cultivated areas with rare casual occurrences close to sites of prior cultivation such as such in field margins or fallow fields
Distributional range Most of Europe.

Distributional maps from various sources
Occurrences in Europe
(from Flora Europaea till 1993)
All Europe
Occurrences in Europe
(from Euro+Med Checklist till 2024)
  Country codes  
Hs(S) It Si(S) [cAb Al aAu(A) Az cBe aCo cCs aDa Es aGa(F) cGe cGr cHe cHs cHu aIs La Lt Lu aNo cPo cRm aSk aSu cTcs cTu(E) Uk(U)]

Links & Further literature (0 papers)

Google Web

Google Images

Google Scholar

Research Gate

Wikipedia

JSTOR

GBIF

Med Checklist

Cat. of Life

EoL

IPNI

World Flora Online

Plants of the World Online

Vienna Virt. Herb.

RBGE Herbarium

KEW Herbarium

MNHN

Garden Database

IUCN

TROPICOS
Kindly Email if there are papers and publications about local studies or information about this species to be included in the list above.

Species Images (1 images)
   Daucus carota subsp. sativus   -   Image Code: DAUCS-0.

Only 1 image of Daucus carota subsp. sativus is available. If you can share your own images of this species with this website, please do so by using the image upload form below. Credits are given to the authors.

 
UPLOAD IMAGE FORM
Your Name:  *
Your Email:  *
Select Image :  *
Is this image taken from Malta?     YES    NO    Don't know!
Anti-Spam code:  *
Additional Comments:
Credit for photo submitted:
NO   YES  
If Yes, the 'Name' entered above will be used for crediting. Credit will be marked on the photo (eg: Photo by John Smith ). If the photo submitted is not yours, please state the author in the comments box. DO NOT submit photos without the author's permission.
          * = required inputs
[ Instructions on how to share and submit your own photos to Maltawildplants.com ]

Sales and Donations
Sales of seeds of wild plant from Malta:  Seeds of selected wild plant species may be available for academic studies, research purposes, or personal use. Please note that not all species can be supplied or exported. Availability is subject to seasonal seed production, stock levels, and applicable regulations, including Maltese legislation and CITES requirements where relevant. Protected and endemic species cannot be sold (at least without the relevant environmental permits).

How it works:  First, submit a quotation request by completing the Online Quotation Form (link provided on the right side of this table). Once your request has been reviewed, you will receive confirmation regarding seed availability, export eligibility (where applicable), pricing, and any transport charges. Payments are accepted by Revolut, bank transfer (IBAN), or PayPal only; credit and debit card payments are not accepted.

Please note that local orders are currently not being accepted. Seek Maltese nurseries and NGOs for local orders.
  Online Quotation (Seeds)

Buy Images:   Purchase photographs from this extensive online collection of Maltese flora by Stephen Mifsud. Images are available at reasonable prices, with rates varying according to image size and resolution. Your purchase helps support the maintenance and development of this website. When placing an order, please note the image code displayed beneath each photograph on the corresponding species page, as this is required when completing the online order form. Images are normally supplied under a license agreement, with copyright retained by the author; however, the sale of copyright for exceptional images may be considered on request.   Online Purchase (Images)
Support this ad-free website   Kindly consider to support this website by giving a small donation which will help to cover some expenses needed to pay the webserver and domains, maintain the website without any adverts, upgrading the code, including more wild plants and photos, and adding further data amongst other developments. You can use the links on the right for direct donations to this website by PayPal or Revolut. Even a 5 or 10 Eur donation is appreciated. Remember this website was ad*free since its launch back in 2002 and has served as an environmental educational tool for over 20 years. 💙 Donate by PayPal 💳 Donate by Revolut


Contribute Information or Report Errors
Use this form to submit additional information about this species or to report any inaccuracies on this webpage. If the information you provide is sourced from a book, journal, website, or any other publication, rather then your own information or experience, then please include the relevant reference or web address whenever possible. Your email address will be used solely for internal communication and will not be shared. We greatly appreciate reports of: taxonomic updates;   species misidentifications;   incorrect or outdated information,   broken links,   technical website issues,   or any additional information specific to the plant in this webpage.

Your contributions help to improve the accuracy and quality of this website. Thank you! Fill any of the three sections (A/B/C) below:
.
Plant Species:  *
Your name:   * Your Email:   *
 
Section A:  Additional Information about this plant species
Own observations: Info from published material (books, journals, website):
Reference of published material:
 
Section B:   Where have you seen this plant on the Maltese Islands?
Locations in Malta or Gozo where you have seen this plant. Only applies for rare plants.

1:       2:       3:   
4:       5:       6:   
Try to be as concise as possible. Examples: Dingli Cliffs (near chapel), Wied Incita (Zebbug side), Triq il-Kbira (Qormi), Barriera ta' Ghajn Abdul (Xlendi), Fields East of Salib tal-gholja (Siggiewi). GPS co-ordinates are also welcomed!
Section C:  Corrections in this plant profile
Section of this page where you found an error (select one)
What is the error/mistake and suggest a correction
AntiSpam Verification: Please answer these simple questions:   20 + 7 =     This website is about
          




MaltaWildPlants.com is supported by:
[ EcoGozo, Ministry for Gozo ] [ Projects in Motion ] [ Sunrise Pet & Garden Centre] [ MycoMalta ]
Webpage is copyright of Stephen Mifsud / www.MaltaWildPlants.com - (2002-2022)