Carrot

Carrots are a flowering plant belonging to the taxonomic family Apiaceae. They are best known for their orange colored root which is a popular vegetable. The largest carrot ever recorded weighed 18.99 pounds, huge compared to what any normal person would have in their own garden at home.

Anatomy
The carrot that we eat is a large taproot. Taproots are common to all dicotyledon plants - plants that have two seed leaves (cotyledons) in the embryo. Roots are a very important part of any plant. They anchor the plant in the ground and also absorb water and dissolve nutrients. Roots also keep the soil around the carrot in place which prevents erosion.(miller and levine p579-602).

Reproduction
Carrots are called biennial plants and flower only every two years. The first year the carrot produces the carrot itself and green leaves at its top. If the carrot is allowed to stay in the ground another year it will flower and produce seeds. So in carrots sexual reproduction is the same as it would be with any other flowering plant. Pollen is made and transferred to the female part of the flower known as the stigma. Then the pollen grain delivers sperm cells within it to the ovary through a long tube and it's there that fertilization takes place. The seeds of the carrot plants are very small and a single teaspoon holds nearly 2000. 

Ecology
There are two different types of carrots, Western carrots and Eastern carrots. Of the two the ones most commonly seen today are Western carrots. Eastern carrots were domesticated in Centeral Asia and are commonly purple or yellow. The Western carrots came from the Netherlands in the 15th or 16th century and are typically orange. Although Western carrots are almost always orange, they come in other colors as well such as white, yellow, red, or even purple. 

Things you can make with carrots
Carrots are a very useful vegetable because you can make so many different things with them. Just a few of the many different things you can make with this one vegetable are baby carrots, baked carrots, carrot soup, carrot bread, carrot cake, carrot casserole, carrot cupcakes, carrot loaf, carrot marmalade, carrot mousse, carrot muffins, carrot salad, carrot sandwich spread, carrot zucchini bread, glazed carrots, honey carrots, maple carrots, orange carrots, and pickled carrots. As one of the most common vegetables, you will find it in a wide variety of recipes.