Selective growth of a novel flowerlike carbon structure is described. These structures are grown on Si (100) substrates coated with Fe2O3 particles. Deposition of carbon is performed by a RF-plasma-assisted pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) technique at 800 degreesC with pure oxygen as the working gas. The flowerlike carbon structures have 2 to 10 branches spread randomly outward from the center. These structures are constructed from nanoscale graphite crystallites, as revealed by Raman spectroscopy. The Fe2O3 particles oxidize the Si surface where selective growth of the flowerlike carbon occurs with Si-O-C bonds at the interface. We believe that similar bonding might have contributed to the selective growth of multiwalled carbon nanotubes on silicon dioxide.