Annual, biennial or perennials, mostly herbaceous, rarely shrubs, with aromatic odour; caulescent or acaulescent, stems often hollow, sometimes ridged. Leaves usually alternate, exstipulate; petiolate or sessile; leaf bases mostly sheathing; leaf lamina simple, usually much incised, often decompound or compound. Flowers small, usually bisexual, less oftenly unisexual (male), usually actinomorphic, sometimes outer petal of marginal flowers enlarged and flowers become zygomorphic, epigynous with a disc, pentamerous. Inflorescence an umbel, occasionally simple, mostly compound consisting of few to many rays or umbellules, often subtended by bracts forming an involucre; umbellules (or umbellets) few to many-flowered; umbellules usually subtended by bracteoles (or bractlets) forming an involucel; sometimes bracts and/ or bractlets lacking. Pedicels long, short or obsolete, then forming a compact head. Calyx tube (Hypanthium) wholly adnate to ovary; calyx teeth 5 (sometimes called sepals) small or obsolete, forming a ring at the top of ovary. Petals 5, free, usually 2- lobed, tips inflexed, sometimes 3-lobed, central lobe tips inflexed; sometimes outer petal larger, making flower zygomorphic. Stamens 5, free, inflexed in bud, alternating with petals; anthers basifixed, dorsifixed or versatile, introrse. Carpels 2, syncarpous, attached to a carpophore, carpophore sometimes absent; ovary inferior, antero-posterior, 2-locular with 1 anatropous ovule in each loculus, placentation marginal; styles 2, often swollen at the base forming a stylopodium which often secretes nectar; stigmas 2. Fruit dry, schizocarpic, cremocarpic, of 2 mericarps united by their faces, called Commissures and usually attached to slender, forked central axis, the carpophore from which the mericarps separate on maturity; each mericarp has 5 Primary Ribs (called Costae) containing vascular bundles, one down the back (Dorsal Rib), 2 on the edges near the commissure (Lateral Ribs) and 2 between the dorsal and lateral ribs (Intermediate Ribs); occasionally secondary ribs present in between the primary ribs; vittae (oil bodies) usually present in the furrows (intervals between the ribs called Vallecullae) and on the commissural face.

447 genera and about 3800 species

Anethum graveolens

Coriandrum sativum

Foeniculum vulgare

Hydrocotyle verticillata

Psammogeton canescens

Trachyspermum ammi