wild carrot
Daucus carota
The solitary, dark purple flower in the center of the white cluster is thought to mimic a resting insect, attracting other pollinators to land.
- Scientific name
- Daucus carota
- Taxonomy
- Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Apiales › Apiaceae › Daucus
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- grassland
- Habitat
- Meadows, pastures, roadsides, waste places, and disturbed sunlit soils.
- Diet
- Autotrophic (Photosynthesis)
- Range
- Europe, Asia, North America, Australia
- Size
- 30 to 120 cm (1 to 4 feet) tall
- Lifespan
- 2 years (Biennial)
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Intensive mowing, herbicide application, and urban development.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless but requires extreme caution. Before touching or foraging, ensure 100% positive identification, as it closely resembles the deadly toxic poison hemlock. Brushing against wet foliage in bright sunlight can cause mild skin irritation (phytophotodermatitis) in sensitive individuals. If contact occurs, wash the skin with soap and water and shield it from sunlight.
Daucus carota , whose common names include wild carrot , bird's nest , bishop's lace , and Queen Anne's lace (North America), is a white, flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate regions of Europe and southwest Asia, and naturalized to North America and Australia.
Photo: Eleftherios Katsillis, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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