This section is from the book "British Wild Flowers In The Four Seasons", by Thomas Moore. Also available from Amazon: British Wild Flowers.
D. Carota: annual or biennial; stem 1-3 feet high; leaves twice or thrice pinnate, with deeply three-lobed or pinnatifid, lanceolate or linear segments; umbels terminal, large, with numerous crowded rays, the inner ones very short, the outer much longer, and closing over after flowering; bracts of both involucres usually divided into 3-5 long linear lobes; fruit covered with prickles. - Fields, pastures, and waste places, especially near the sea. Fl. June, July.
Var. maritimus: leaves somewhat fleshy with shorter segments; umbels more spreading, and prickles more flattened. - Sea coasts.
 
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