A root vegetable, the cultivated form of the wild carrot, Daucus carota, domesticated in Persia and Central Asia, in the region of modern Iran and Afghanistan, more than a thousand years ago. The earliest cultivated carrots were purple or yellow rather than orange, and genetic evidence indicates orange carrots existed before the popular story crediting Dutch growers with breeding the color to honor the House of Orange in the seventeenth century, a claim the historical record does not support as a single deliberate event. Carrots are now grown worldwide as a major vegetable crop, with China and Uzbekistan among the largest producers, valued for their edible taproot eaten raw or cooked.
Facts
Scientific NameDaucus carota subsp. sativus 1 Domestication Region Domesticated When (Circa)10th century CE, or possibly earlier 1 Sources
1. Carrot, Wikipedia
Description
The carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativus)
Taxonomic history
Both written history and molecular genetic studies indicate that the domestic carrot has a single origin in Central Asia.
Cultivars
'Eastern' (a European and American continent reference) carrots were domesticated in Persia (probably in the lands of modern-day Iran and Afghanistan within West Asia) during the 10th century, or possibly earlier.
lead description or Wikipedia lead (crop-class)
A root vegetable, the cultivated form of the wild carrot, Daucus carota, domesticated in Persia and Central Asia, in the region of modern Iran and Afghanistan, more than a thousand years ago.
lead description or Wikipedia lead (primary-uses)
Carrots are now grown worldwide as a major vegetable crop, with China and Uzbekistan among the largest producers, valued for their edible taproot eaten raw or cooked.
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