Side view of Wild Carrot, showing the umbel and the pitchfork-like bracts below it. The prominent ribbing on the stem may also be seen.
Daucus carota
Side view of Wild Carrot, showing the umbel and the pitchfork-like bracts below it. The prominent ribbing on the stem may also be seen.
View from above of the saucer-like arrangement of the tiny flowers of Wild Carrot.
Open fields, road sides, and disturbed places.
1. Wild Carrot looks essentially like the domestic carrot, its cousin.
2. The leaves are fern- or parsley-like, and are compound pinnate.
3. The flowers are tiny, white, and shaped like a flat-topped saucer or over-turned plate sitting atop an umbel.
4. The upright stems are heavily ribbed, and conspicuous pitchfork bracts extend outward from the base of the umbel.
5. The root is carrot-like, but smaller and thinner, and less orange.
1. The carrot-like root is definitely edible. Be careful not to pull and eat carrot-like plants that exist in wetlands, as some may be the similar poison hemlocks, which kill quickly!
2. The flowers are a favorite of nectar collecting bees.