carrot Daucus carota, an important root vegetable which had an unpromising origin. The wild carrot, which grows in much of W. Asia and Europe, has a tiny and acrid-tasting root. However, when it is cultivated in favourable conditions the roots of successive generations enlarge quickly. So the evolution of cultivars with enlarged roots is easily explained; indeed, what is puzzling is that it seems to have taken a very long time for D. carota var sativa, as the modern cultivated carrot is known, to appear.
