What part of the plant is a carrot?

A carrot is the root portion of the carrot plant, also known as a taproot. A taproot is the largest, most dominant root of the plant's system. Carrots are typically orange in color, although some varieties are purple, red, white or yellow.

The most commonly eaten part of a carrot plant is the taproot, although the green portion of the plant is often eaten as well. Taproots typically grow straight down and feature a tapering shape, although turnips, onions, beets and radishes are taproots as well. It is made up of an outer cortex called phloem and an inner cortex called xylem.