Daucus carota
Copyright, Br. Alfred Brousseau, Saint Mary's College
Queen Anne's Lace, also
called "Wild Carrot," is a common plant in dry fields,
ditches, and open areas. It was introduced
from Europe, and the carrots that we eat today were once
cultivated from this plant. Queen Anne's Lace grows
up to four feet tall. Its leaves are two to eight inches
long and fern-like. This plant is best known for its
flowers,
which are tiny and white, blooming in lacy, flat-topped
clusters.
Each little flower has a dark, purplish center. The fruits of Queen
Anne's Lace are spiky, and they curl inward to build a
"birds' nest" shape. This plant blooms from
May to October. It is a biennial
plant, which means it lives for two years. It will spend the
first year growing bigger, and then bloom the second year.
Joel M. Schoeneker,
Wisconsin State Herbarium North Carolina State
University Since Queen Anne's Lace
was introduced to this country, many people consider it an
invasive weed.
It will sometimes crowd and compete with native
plants. Some animals have
benefited from the arrival of this wildflower. Caterpillars
of the Eastern Black Swallowtail butterfly eat the leaves,
bees and other insects drink the nectar,
and predatory insects, such as the Green Lacewing, come to
Queen Anne's Lace to attack prey,
such as aphids. People can eat the large
taproot, which of course, is a carrot. The leaves of the
plant, though, are toxic, and may irritate the
skin. Merel R. Black, Wisconsin
State Herbarium
Society for Environment Education