Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants (anthophytes) in the order Apiales. Apiaceae is 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 plants, with more than 3,700 species in 434 genera It includes a significant number of phototoxic species, and a smaller number of highly poisonous species.
23,420 species of vascular plant have been recorded in South Africa, making it the sixth most species-rich country in the world and the most species-rich country on the African continent. Of these, 153 species are considered to be threatened. Nine biomes have been described in South Africa: Fynbos, Succulent Karoo, desert, Nama Karoo, grassland, savanna, Albany thickets, the Indian Ocean coastal belt, and forests.
The 2018 South African National Biodiversity Institute's National Biodiversity Assessment plant checklist lists 35,130 taxa in the phyla Anthocerotophyta (hornworts (6)), Anthophyta (flowering plants (33534)), Bryophyta (mosses (685)), Cycadophyta (cycads (42)), Lycopodiophyta (Lycophytes(45)), Marchantiophyta (liverworts (376)), Pinophyta (conifers (33)), and Pteridophyta (cryptogams (408)).
65 genera are represented in the literature. Listed taxa include species, subspecies, varieties, and forms as recorded, some of which have subsequently been allocated to other taxa as synonyms, in which cases the accepted taxon is appended to the listing. Multiple entries under alternative names reflect taxonomic revision over time.
Aethusa
Genus Aethusa: Aethusa leptophylla (Pers.) Spreng. accepted as Cyclospermum leptophyllum (Pers.) Sprague ex Britton & P.Wilson
Afroligusticum
Genus Afroligusticum: Afroligusticum thodei (T.H.Arnold) P.J.D.Winter, indig Afroligusticum wilmsianum (H.Wolff) P.J.D.Winter, endemic
Afrosciadium
Genus Afrosciadium: Afrosciadium caffrum (Meisn.) P.J.D.Winter, indigenous Afrosciadium magalismontanum (Sond.) P.J.D.Winter, indigenous Afrosciadium natalense (Sond.) P.J.D.Winter, endemic Afrosciadium platycarpum (Sond.) P.J.D.Winter, endemic
Agrocharis
Genus Agrocharis: Agrocharis melanantha Hochst. indigenous