Lacy white-flowered biennial umbellifer of dry meadows and roadsides, with a tiny dark central floret in each flat flower head. Ancestor of the cultivated carrot.
Hardiness ratings
| System | Rating | Temperature range | How to read it |
|---|---|---|---|
| USDA hardiness zone | Zone 3–9 | −40 °C to −1.1 °C | Plant tolerates down to this zone |
| RHS hardiness rating | H7 | down to −20 °C | Plant needs at least this level of cold tolerance |
| Canadian plant hardiness zone | Zone 3–8 | −34 °C to −1 °C | Plant tolerates down to this zone |
| Australian (ANBG) zone | Zone 1–6 | −15 °C to 15 °C | Plant tolerates down to this zone |
About Wild carrot (Queen Anne’s lace)
Wild carrot is the ancestor of the cultivated carrot, and its root is thin, pale and woody rather than the swollen orange taproot familiar from the vegetable garden — that came from centuries of selection. Orange carrots are a relatively recent development; earlier cultivated forms were commonly purple, yellow or white. The flat white flowerhead often carries a single dark red floret at its centre, and it folds inwards as seed ripens, giving the plant its other common name, bird's nest. It is closely related to several highly toxic plants and should never be foraged casually.
Growing notes
- Larval food plant for swallowtail butterflies and dozens of parasitic wasp species
- Flat umbel flowers provide landing platforms for tiny beneficial insects that struggle to land on tubular flowers
- Ancestor of the cultivated carrot — root is white and woody, not orange and tender
- Identify carefully — the closely related poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) is deadly and superficially similar, key differences are smooth purple-blotched stems on hemlock and rough hairy stems on wild carrot
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Related plants
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