Wild carrot

From Free net encyclopedia

(Redirected from Daucus)

For the music group, see Wild Carrot (music group).

{{Taxobox | color = lightgreen | name = Wild Carrot | image = QALace2675.JPG | image_width = 240px | regnum = Plantae | divisio = Magnoliophyta | classis = Magnoliopsida | ordo = Apiales | familia = Apiaceae | genus = Daucus | species = D. carota | binomial = Daucus carota | binomial_authority = L. }}

Wild carrot or Queen Anne's lace (Daucus carota) is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate regions of Europe and southwest Asia; it is the ancestor of the domesticated carrot.

It is a biennial plant growing up to 1 m tall, bearing an umbel of bright white flowers that turn into a "birds's nest" seed case after blooming. Very similar in appearance to the deadly poison hemlock, it is distinguished by a mix of bi-pinnate and tri-pinnate leaves, fine hairs on its stems and leaves, a root that smells like carrots, and occasionally a single dark red flower in its center.

[edit]

Cultivation and uses

See carrot for the modern cultivated forms of the species.

Like the cultivated carrot, the wild carrot root is edible while young, but quickly becomes too woody to consume. A teaspoon of crushed seeds has long been used as a contraceptive - its use for this purpose was first described by Hippocrates over 2,000 years ago. Research conducted on mice has offered a degree of confirmation for this use - it was found that Wild carrot disrupts the implantation process, and is thus an abortifacient. Chinese studies have also indicated that the seeds block progesterone synthesis, which could explain this effect.

It is recommended that, as with all herbal remedies and wild food gathering, one use appropriate caution. Extra caution should be used in this case, as it bears close resemblance to a dangerous species.

[edit]

Queen Anne's lace

Wild carrot is introduced and naturalised in North America, where it is often known as "Queen Anne's lace". It is so called because the flower resembles lace, and there is a red droplet on the center of the flower represents a blood droplet where Queen Anne pricked herself with a needle when she was making the lace.

[edit]