Classical name.

Annual or biennial herbs with solid stems. Leaves 1-3 times pinnate or occasionally divided into 3, the stalks with sheathing bases. Flower heads compound with leafy dissected bracts. Flowers white. Fruit ovoidoblong, slightly flattened and with narrow ridges.

Grown for the large, delicate, flat flower heads that give structure to the border.

Seed.

Flowers of A. majus are used in the cut flower industry; A. visnaga is used medicinally, in particular as a relief for asthma and angina.

Numerous leafy, dissected bracts mostly 2-5 cm long.

9 species from W Asia, Macaronesia and the Mediterranean.

Source: Spencer, R. (2002). Apiaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.