Wild Carrot

Daucus carota

Best Time to See: June, July, August

Habitat: Grassland

Colour: Red, White

Also known as Queen Anne's lace this is a dainty, frothy wildflower with a single red bloom in its centre.

Unlike cultivated carrots, the wild carrot's root is tough and stringy and not particularly palatable.

The flower itself is long stalked and shaped like an up-turned umbrella. It is similar in appearance to other members of the Apiacae or 'umbellifer' family - such as the highly poisonous hemlock and the commonly seen cow parsley - with white flowers and feathery leaves.

However, the foliage of wild carrot is a mix of 'bipinnate' (leaves where the feathers are feathered themselves) and tripinnate (leaves where the feathers on the feathers are feathered!), a root that smells of carrots, a hairy stem and occasionally a single red flower in the centre.

Habitat and distribution

Found throughout the UK. In Scotland mainly occurs on the coast. Wild carrot can be often be found growing on grassland, cliffs, roadsides and in hedge banks.