The carrot has long been known as an orange vegetable. Generations of people in the West have grown up believing that carrots have always been orange. But long before the Orange carrot became established in the 16th century, the black carrot (Daucus carota ssp. sativus var. atrorubens) existed across in Asia and the eastern Mediterranean. Black carrots are still grown and consumed in Eastern countries such a Turkey, Afghanistan, Egypt, Pakistan India and the Far East.