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Home , Daucus, Daucus carota

Intriguing World of iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Wild ( carota L.)

LARRY W. MITICH2

"Cool , and intricate, Queen Anne's lace hedges our summer highways with spendthrift loveliness. But who of us can imagine the full beauty and wonder of this as we speed by?"-Green Immigrants by Claire Shaver Haughton (16).

INTRODUCTION Wild carrot, L., is one of the most visible taxons in Umbelliferae or , especially in (23). Cronquist (4) and Brummitt (1) mentioned that 300 to 428 genera were in the family depending upon the circumscription, and that it con­ I: tained 3000 species, herbs to rarely trees. The family is nearly cosmopoli­ tan in distribution, but is best devel­ oped in North Temperate regions and Wild carrot to a lesser extent on tropical mountains. Many species are cultivated for food or Daucus is from the Greek name for carrot, daukos, and spice-dill, , caraway, coriander, carota is an old name for the plant (13). Daucus is a carrot, parsley, and parsnip (4). of about 22 annual and biennial herbs with finely divided The of wild carrot have con­ and compound of white and flowers. siderable aesthetic appeal, hence its popular name, Queen The umbels are usually subtended by a of finely Anne's lace. When that common name entered the English divided (18). language is not recorded. But by 1894 the name was Plant collections made in the 18th and 19th centuries in somewhat general in the U.S. (23). Walter P. Eaton (8) North America were so variable in their appearance that wrote that wild carrot bears a dainty, flat-topped white many distinct taxa. were described (21); however, Mathias bloom sometimes as large as a saucer, and a long bed of and Constance (19) recognized only two species. Nor is flowers "often appears like a strip of delicate embroidery this variability confined to North America for it is also along the wayside, making their more aristocratic title of found in wild carrot in Russia (6). Queen Anne's lace entirely applicable." And how did it get In Europe wild carrot is seldom a dominant plant but its name of Queen Anne's lace? When Anne arrived from occurs sporadically with little tendency toward multitude Denmark to became the queen of King James I of England, infestations. The garden carrot is now regarded as a sepa­ wild carrot was still a novelty in the royal gardens. Legend rate strain of the wild prototype (9). says that Queen Anne challenged the ladies of the court to a contest to see who could produce a pattern of lace as lovely as the of the carrot. The ladies knew that no DISTRIBUTION AND WEEDINESS one could rival the queen's handiwork so it became a triumph for Anne (16). Other common names for wild Wild carrot, progenitor of the cultivated carrot, is native carrot are bird's-nest and devil's-plague. to Europe. It belongs to an association of plants of rights­ of-way, fields, underutilized or depleted pastures, and open spaces which are disturbed periodically (11, 12, 24), espe­ 1No. 53 of the series "Intriguing World of Weeds." 2Ext. Sci. Emeritus, Dep. Vegetable Crops, Univ. California, Davis, CA cially throughout eastern temperate North America, often 95616. solidly occupying areas of considerable extent (9).

455 Weed Technology. 1996. Volume l0:455-457 I INTRIGUING WORLD OF WEEDS

Wild carrot is found throughout the eastern states and clasp the stalks (16). The flat white flowers seem to glisten along the south and west coasts of the United States, in in the sun. , , ants, and other crawling insects Canada, Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies are attracted to them (16). (19). It occurs throughout the British Isles and is especially After , each flower head closes, forming a abundant near the sea. It also occurs from Norway and bird's nest, inside of which the ripen; by late summer central Sweden south to North Africa and the Canary the bird's nest is mature. Some types of bees use it for a Islands, and eastward through Siberia to northern and nest; ants take refuge in it from summer showers; many are eastern India (2). lined with the silken webs of minuscule spiders (16). In Canada no collection of wild carrot is more than 100 Carpels are thickly set with weak spines along the yr old. The plant has a longer documented history in the secondary ribs, forming a small, oblong, gray-brown bur. U.S. (21); by 1881 it was considered a serious weed in The seeds have a complex structure. Shaped like a infini­ Connecticut (3). tesimal Japanese lantern, each one has 5 slender lacquered Temperature limits the altitudinal range of wild carrot ribs; each seedcase bears 2 seeds and a supply of oil. While to below 450 m (22); photoperiod does not limit its range. the seeds ripen, the whole is saturated with a volatile It grows in full sunlight (24). With severe shade its vigor oil which discourages birds and mice from eating the seeds drops and it no longer behaves as a biennial. and which leaves a field of wild carrot smelling faintly like Said Linnaeus in 1753, "Habitat in Europe campis turpentine (16). The , light in weight, may be carried exaridis": Daucus lives in dried-out fields or meadows. A far by the wind or drifted with snow; these seeds have long good supply of water, however, is beneficial where the soil vitality and one seeding may infest the soil for several years is aerated and not waterlogged (7). (12). When tissue from any part of the plant is crushed, the characteristic odor of carrot is apparent (6). Wind is only one method of dispersing the seeds. Hehn DESCRIPTION AND BIOLOGY (17) reported that they may be carried on animals' fur, While wild carrot is mostly a biennial, annual or short­ attached by their hooked spines, and may pass undamaged lived perennial forms often occur. It has a long, tapering through the digestive tract of a horse (22). , and has none of the succulent sweetness which careful Wild carrot passes the winter either as a seed or as a selection and cultivation have given to its descendants; on taproot surmounted by a rosette of leaves. Harrison and the contrary, it is filled with woody fibers and is acrid to Dale ( 15) reported that no plant that flowered was observed the taste (12). Only a crown of green leaves is produced to survive and grow in the following year. the first season (12). It reproduces by single-seeded half­ Germination occurs following rain, foremost in the , and the taproot is slender, less than 5 cm in diameter, spring, but also in the summer and fall (5). Flowering in whitish and becoming woody. The basal leaves range from annual plants may occur within 6 wk after spring germina­ 5 to 40 cm long and are three-pinnate, and the upper leaves tion. However, the first plants to flower have larger are frequently finely divided with pinnatifid segments (6), (15). which are lance-shaped and toothed, giving the plant a fine, Wild carrot plants are generally cross-fertilized. Like feathery appearance (12). The flowering stalk is from 0.1 other species of Umbelliferae, the number of different to 1.2 m, solid, erect, slender, branching, bristly with stiff pollinating agents is large, often between 200 and 300. hairs, and bearing a few sessile and clasping leaves (12). When fertilization takes place, the flower head is still The stalk is frequently colored or where it arises concave or fiat, but as the fruits increase in size and are still from the basal rosette. Flowering stalks are produced in green, the rays are curved inward forming the bird's nest succession until the plant dies. During flowering season phase. As the fruits mature and become dry, the hygro­ from mid-July to September, a plant may produce up to 100 scopic rays extend outward, causing the umbel to open and umbels ( 16), which are compound and terminal. the ripe to scatter (6). The bird's nest is a storehouse Each of the 75 clusters of florets in an umbel is sup­ for seeds 1000 in most mature heads, 10,000 to an average ported on its own stem. These stems radiate from the main plant. The seeds are released between mid-summer and flower stalk like the spokes of an umbrella. To add to the mid-winter (16). lacy appearance, each umbel has 14 sepals, with 3 to 5 Wild carrot losses are hard to access. Dairy milk can be fernlike prongs matching the feathery, finely cut leaves that tainted when large amounts of herbage of wild carrot are

456 Volume 10, Issue 2 (April-June) 1996 WEED TECHNOLOGY eaten along with other plants (6). Muenscher (20) reported a tough, stringy, greenish taproot that required hours of that cattle will not graze upon it from choice; however, cooking (16). sheep and horses will browse it (10). With the dawning of the 20th century, the carrot was Harrison and Dale (15) reported that digestibility and among the vegetables that came out of obscurity. When nutritive value of wild carrot foliage are similar to those of plant scientists discovered that , an excellent legumes; therefore this plant should be regarded with source of vitamin A, was present in its leaves and roots, it greater tolerance when found in pastures among plants of was rapidly modernized (16). low nutritive value. Wild carrot harbors several disease organisms and insect pests, such as carrot rust and aster (5). Frankton LITERATURE CITED ( 10) reported that they may affect the commercial produc­ I. Brummitt, R. K. 1992. Families and Genera. Royal Botanic tion of carrot either by transmitting pests or harboring Gardens, Kew. 804 p. 2. Clapham, A. R., T. G. Tutin, and E. F. Warburg. 1952. Flora of the British diseases common to both cultivated and wild carrot. Isles. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 1591 p. 3. Committee of Connecticut Botanical Society. 1910. Conn. Geol. Nat. Hist. Surv. Bull. 14. 569 p. MEDICINAL VIRTUES, AND 4. Cronquist, A. 1981. An Integrated System of Classification of Flowering Plants. Columbia University Press, NY. 1262 p. OTHER COMMENTS 5. Dale, H. M. 1967. Factors influencing early flowering in wild carrot. Minutes Natl. Weed Comm. Can., East. Sec., Quebec. 21-24. Wild carrot was used by the early Greeks and Romans 6. Dale, H. M. 1974. The biology of Canadian weeds. 5. Daucus carota. Can. as a medicine with a wide variety of attributes. Wrote J. Plant Sci. 54:673-685. 7. Dale, H. M., P. J. Harrison, and G. W. Thomson. 1965. Weeds as indicators Dioscorides (14), "Ye root ye thickness of a finger, a span of physical site characteristics in abandoned pastures. Can. J. Bot. 43: I 319- long, sweet-smelling, edible being sodden [boiled]. Of this 1327. 8. Eaton, W. P. 1913. Barn Doors and Byways. Small, Maynard and Co., ye seed being drank ... and it is good for ye [painful Boston. 273 p. discharge of urine] in potions, and for ye bitings and 9. Fogg, J. M., Jr. 1945. Weeds of Lawn and Garden. Univ. of Pennsylvania strokes of venomous beasts; they say also, that they which Press, Philadelphia. 215 p. I 0. Frankton, C. 1955. Weeds of Canada. Queen's Printer, Ottawa, Ontario. 196 take it before hand shall take no wrong of wilde beasts. It p. cooperates also to conception, and it also being [diuretic], 11. Frankton, C. and G. A. Mulligan. 1970. Weeds of Canada. Queen's Printer, Ottawa, Ontario. 217 p. both provoketh [poison], and being applied; but the leaves 12. Georgia, A. E. 1914. A Manual of Weeds. Macmillan Co., New York. 593 being beaten small with honey, and laid on, doth cleanse p. 13. Gledhill, D. 1985. The Names of Plants. Cambridge University Press, rapidly spreading destructive ulceration of soft tissues." Cambridge. 159 p. Pliny the Elder suggests that it was used as a love potion, 14. Gunther, R. T. 1959. The Greek Herbal of Dioscorides. Haftner Publishing guaranteed to be effective, and Galen goes so far as to claim Co., New York. 701 p. 15. Harrison, P. J. and H. M. Dale. 1966. The effects of grazing and clipping on that it actually "procures lust." As a vegetable, however, the control of wild carrot. Weeds 14:285-288. the carrot remained a bitter, tough taproot, edible only in 16. Haughton, C. S. 1978. Green Immigrants. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York. 450 p. , the early spring as a pot herb (16). 17. Hehn, V. 1885. Wanderings of Plants and Animals. Sonnenschein & Co., As the carrot was improved it found its way into medi­ London. 399 p. 18. Hyam, R. and R. Pankhurst. 1995. Plants and Their Names, A Concise cine chests as well as stew pots. Both Gerard and Culpeper Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 545 p. recommend the carrot for numerous ills. Culpeper says that 19. Mathias, M. E. and L. Constance. 1944-1945. Umbelliferae in North the carrot is influenced by Mercury, the god of wind, and America Flora. 28B:43-297. New York Botanical Gardens, New York. 20. Muenscher, W. C. 1961. Poisonous Plants of the United States. Macmillan that a tea made from the dried leaves should dispel wind Co., New York.277 p. from the bowels and relieve dropsy, kidney stones, and 21. Rafinesque, C. S. 1836. New Flora and Botany of North America. Part IV. Arnold Aboretum, Cambridge, 1946. 112 p. women's complaints (16). 22. Salisbury, E. 1961. Weeds and Aliens. Collins, N.N. ser. London. 384 p. The carrot arrived in America with the first settlers, but 23. Simpson, J. A. and E. S. C. Weiner. 1989. The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Ed. Clarendon Press, Oxford. it must have been its easy adaptability and supposed me­ 24. Sylwester, E. P. 1960. Beware of wild carrot. Hoard's Dairyman. 105:330- dicinal qualities that recommended it, because it was still 331.

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