Queen Anne’s lace

plant
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Also known as: Daucus carota carota, wild carrot
Also called:
wild carrot
Related Topics:
carrot

Queen Anne’s lace, (Daucus carota carota), biennial subspecies of plant in the parsley family (Apiaceae) that is an ancestor of the cultivated carrot. It grows to 1.5 metres (5 feet) tall and has bristly, divided leaves. It bears umbels (flat-topped clusters) of white or pink flowers with a single dark purple flower in the centre that produce ribbed fruits with sharp spines. The enlarged root is edible but acrid. Native to Eurasia, it now has a nearly cosmopolitan range and is occasionally cultivated as an ornamental.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn.