Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

QUEEN ANNE'S LACE

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Daucus carota L.

Cherokee County, Kansas

Biennial

Height: 16-60 inches

Family: Apiaceae - Parsley Family

Flowering Period: June, July, August, September

Also Called:

Wild carrot.

Stems:

Erect, solitary, sometimes branched, hollow, glabrous to bristly or rigid hairy, often reddish or purplish.

Leaves:

Alternate, more than once pinnately divided, fern-like, ovate-lanceolate in outline, 2 to 8 inches long, .8 to 2.8 inches wide; ultimate divisions linear to lanceolate, 1/12 to 1/2 inch long, 1/50 to 1/12 wide, margins entire or few-cleft, tips pointed.

Inflorescences:

Umbels, compound, 2 to 6 inches broad, terminal and from upper axils, many-flowered, on stalks 3 to 20+ inches long; rays many, unequal, 1.2 to 3 inches long, spreading to loosely ascending at flowering, curving upward and inward at fruiting; secondary umbels with 5 to 20 flowers; involucre bracts pinnately divided, 1/6 to 1.6 inches long, spreading or bent backward in fruit; segments elongate, thread-like.

Flowers:

Tiny; sepals absent or minute triangular teeth; petals 5, egg-shaped, white to yellowish-white or occasionally pinkish-white, tip notched; central flower in umbel usually dark purple or rose, sessile.

Fruits:

Egg-shaped, 1/8 to 1/6 inch long, brown, ribbed, very bristly; segments 2, each 1-seeded.

Habitat:

Open disturbed areas, roadsides, waste areas, pastures, meadows, along railroads, woodland openings, stream banks, and margins of crop fields.

Distribution:

Principally east 3/5 of Kansas.

Origin:

Native of Eurasia. Imported by early colonists, escaped, and now naturalized.

Reproduction:

By seeds

Toxicity:

In Europe, it is considered mildly poisonous to horses and cattle.

Forage Value:

Unpalatable to livestock. When grazed, it can cause the milk to taste bitter.

Uses:

Small mammals and upland game birds eat the seeds. Early settlers were said to have given color to butter with a wild carrot extract. The roots are a source of vitamin A.

Comments:

Queen Anne's lace produces a basal rosette of leaves in the first year and a flowering stem in the second year. It is an aggressive invader that can crowd out other vegetation. Related to our cultivated carrot Daucus carota subsp. sativs.

Queen Anne's lace