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Daucus carota
Also called Queen Anne's Lace, Carrot, Bishop's Lace
Wild carrot is a biennial relative of the garden carrot, grown for its lacy white flower heads. It is best in full sun to light shade and in ordinary, well-drained soil.
Daucus carota, whose common names include wild carrot, European wild carrot, bird's nest, bishop's lace, carrot flower, and Queen Anne's lace (North America), is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae. It is native to temperate regions of Afro-Eurasia with a number of regional subspecies, and is naturalised widely elsewhere. Carrots cultivated as a food crop are cultivars of the domesticated subspecies Daucus carota subsp. sativus.
Like many other species of Apiaceae, the leaves of the wild carrot may cause phytophotodermatitis; skin contact with the foliage, especially wet foliage, can cause skin irritation in some people, so caution should be used when handling the plant. It may also have a mild effect on horses.
The compound falcarinol is naturally found in Daucus carota for protection against fungal diseases. Laboratory tests show the compound is toxic to mice and to the water flea Daphnia magna. Normal consumption of carrots has no toxic effect in humans.
Daucus carota is native to temperate regions of Europe, northern Africa (south to Ethiopia), southwestern and eastern Asia; it has also been introduced to and become naturalised in North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. It is commonly found in meadows, along roadsides and in unused fields. It thrives best in sun to partial shade.
Like the cultivated carrot, the wild carrot root is edible while young, but quickly becomes too woody to consume. The flowers are sometimes battered and fried. The leaves and seeds are also edible.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Daucus carota by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
