''Platysace linearifolia'', known as carrot tops, is a slender shrub, found growing on poor sandy soils in eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, north of

Jervis Bay Jervis Bay () is a oceanic bay and village in the Jervis Bay Territory and on the South Coast (New South Wales), South Coast of New South Wales, Australia. A area of land around the southern headland of the bay, known as the Jervis Bay Terri ...

. It may form large colonies and is easily noticed in the late summer and autumn when covered in small white flowers. It grows from 40 cm to 1.5 metres tall. A feature of this plant is the linear leaves, 10 to 25 mm long, and 0.5 to 1 mm wide. The fruit is 2 mm long and wide, with

tubercles In anatomy, a tubercle (literally 'small tuber', Latin for 'lump') is any round nodule, small eminence, or warty outgrowth found on external or internal organs of a plant or an animal. In plants A tubercle is generally a wart-like projection, b ...

. First collected in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, it was described by the Spanish botanist

Antonio José Cavanilles Antonio José Cavanilles (16 January 1745 – 5 May 1804) was a leading Spanish taxonomic botanist, artist and one of the most important figures in the 18th century period of Enlightenment in Spain. Cavanilles is most famous for his 2-vol ...

in 1799. The generic name is from the Greek meaning “a flat shield”, describing the fruit. The specific epithet refers to the straight thin leaves.Les Robinson - Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney, page 278 The reference to carrots in the common name is due to this plant being placed in the

carrot family Apiaceae () or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus ''Apium,'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot, or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering p ...

References

linearifolia Flora of New South Wales Flora of Queensland Taxa named by Antonio José Cavanilles {{Apiaceae-stub