Carrot

The Carrot (Daucus carota) is another well-known, and very common root vegetable. These vegetables come in a variety of colours including yellow, white, purple and red, but most commonly carrots are orange. The orange part of the carrot is called the taproot, and it is also the edible part.

The carrot plant is biennial, growing leaves in a rosette formation during the spring and summer. The taproot builds up and grows, storing sugars for growth during the remainder of the current year, and into the next when it flowers. The stem, when flowering, can grow up to 1 metre tall. The flowers are white in colour and grow fruit which is referred to as a mericarp.