Daucus carota

Inflorescences and foliage

Flowers (worm's-eye view)

Fruit cluster containing oval fruits with hooked spines

The wild carrot is a herbaceous, somewhat variable biennial plant that grows between 30 and 120 cm (1 and 4 ft) tall,[3][4] and is roughly hairy, with a stiff, solid stem. The leaves are tripinnate, finely divided and lacy, and overall triangular in shape. The leaves are 5–15 cm (2–6 in) long,[4] bristly and alternate in a pinnate pattern that separates into thin segments. The flowers are small and dull white, clustered in flat, dense umbels. The umbels are terminal and about 8–15 cm (3–6 in) wide.[5][4] They may be pink in bud and may have a reddish or purple[6] flower in the centre of the umbel. The lower bracts are three-forked or pinnate, which distinguishes the plant from other white-flowered umbellifers. As the seeds develop, the umbel curls up at the edges, becomes more congested, and develops a concave surface. The fruits are small, dry, bumpy, oval and flattened, with short styles and hooked spines, as well as protective hairs surrounding it.[7][5] The fruit has two mericarps, or bicarpellate. The endosperm of the fruit grows before the embryo.[8] The dried umbels detach from the plant, becoming tumbleweeds.[9] The function of the tiny red flower, coloured by anthocyanin, is to attract insects. The flowers bloom from May to September.[5][4]

Similar in appearance to the deadly poison hemlock, D. carota is distinguished by a mix of tripinnate leaves, fine hairs on its solid green stems and on its leaves, a root that smells like carrots, and occasionally a single dark red flower in the center of the umbel.[10][11] Hemlock is also different in tending to have purple mottling on its stems, which also lack the hairiness of the plain green Queen Anne's lace (wild carrot) stems.[12] Both plants have been spread into North America by European settlers and are now common wildflowers there.

The carrot was first officially described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 work Species Plantarum.[18] In 2016, an international team sequenced the full genome of Daucus carota.[19]

Native to temperate regions of Europe[4] and southwest Asia, the plant was spread to North America and Australia.

The plant is commonly found along roadsides and in unused fields. It thrives best in sun to partial shade.[5]

Skin contact with the foliage of Daucus carota, especially wet foliage, can cause skin irritation in some people.[22][23] It may also have a mild effect on horses.[24]

The compound falcarinol is naturally found in Daucus carota for protection against fungal diseases. Lab tests show the compound to be toxic to mice and the water flea Daphnia magna.[25] Normal consumption of carrots has no toxic effect in humans.[26]

Like the cultivated carrot, the D. carota root is edible while young, but it quickly becomes too woody to consume. The flowers are sometimes battered and fried. The leaves and seeds are also edible.[5]

D. carota bears a close resemblance to poison hemlock, and the leaves of the wild carrot may cause phytophotodermatitis,[27][23] so caution should also be used when handling the plant. The seeds and flowers have been used as a method of contraception and an abortifacient for centuries.[28][29][30] If used as a dyestuff, the flowers give a creamy, off-white color.

D. carota, when freshly cut, will draw or change color depending on the color of the water in which it is held. This effect is only visible on the "head" or flower of the plant. Carnations also exhibit this effect. This occurrence is a popular science demonstration in grade school.

Daucus carota was introduced and naturalized in North America, where it is often known as Queen Anne's lace. Both Anne, Queen of Great Britain, and her great-grandmother, Anne of Denmark, are taken to be the Queen Anne for whom the plant is named.[36] It is so called because the flower resembles lace, prominent in fine clothing of the day; the red flower in the center is said to represent a droplet of blood where Queen Anne pricked herself with a needle when she was making the lace.

• Daucus pusillus, American wild carrot

• Blanchan, Neltje (2005). Wild Flowers Worth Knowing. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.
• Bradeen, James M.; Simon, Philipp W. (2007). "Carrot". In Cole, Chittaranjan (ed.). Vegetables. Genome Mapping and Molecular Breeding in Plants. Vol. 5. New York, New York: Springer. pp. 162–184. ISBN 978-3-540-34535-0.
• Clapham, A. R.; Tutin, T. G.; Warburg, E. F. (1962). Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press.
• Mabey, Richard (1997). Flora Britannica. London: Chatto and Windus.
• Rose, Francis (2006). The Wild Flower Key (edition revised and expanded by Clare O'Reilly). London: Frederick Warne. ISBN 978-0-7232-5175-0.
• Rubatsky, V.E.; Quiros, C.F.; Siman, P.W. (1999). Carrots and Related Vegetable Umbelliferae. CABI Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85199-129-0.

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• Connecticut Botanical Society