You are looking at the original carrot. I bet you're thinking how you have never seen a carrot flower before, but there is a simple explanation: Carrots are biennials. If you were to plant carrot seeds and instead of harvesting the carrots, leave them in the ground for another season, the plants would produce flowers. Seriously, all domestic carrots are actually cultivars of a subspecies of this plant.
Daucus carota is a herbaceous weed that is native to Europe and Southwestern Asia, also naturalized in North America. It goes by the names of wild carrot, bird's nest, bishop's lace, and Queen Anne's lace. Queen Anne's lace is generally how it is known in North America.
It is usually recognized by its white lacy flower and if you look closely, you will see a tiny purple flower right in the middle. As the story goes, Queen Anne of England (1665-1714) was making white lace when she pricked her finger and a drop of blood landed on the white lace she was sewing.
The leaves are lacy, resembling those of a domestic carrot or a flat leaved parsley - they smell somewhat like parsley. The taproot is long, pale and thin, and smells like a carrot. You know the best part...
You can eat them.
The leaves and flower can be chopped and added to salad. The roots are used in stews and for making tea, but since the flower is the easiest way to identify the plant, the roots are too woody by the time the flower arrives. You may find that the tastiest idea is to batter and fry the flowers. Just, please, don't pick them near a road or where they might have been sprayed with pesticides.
Fried Flowers
Ingredients:
- flour
- Queen Anne's lace flowers (stems cut very short)
- eggs
- salt
- cayenne pepper
- vegetable oil
- Pour 1" (2.5 cm) oil into a skillet and heat until sizzling.
- Whisk the eggs in a small bowl.
- Combine the dry ingredients in another bowl.
- Holding the flower by the short stem, dip it into the egg and then the flour.
- Fry it upside down in the oil for 30-60 seconds and then remove.
As they fry, enjoy the aroma of popcorn, then eat them while they are warm and crunchy. Pick more than you think you need because they are really good. (You're going to thank me for this!)
There are just two very important things you need to know. First, to the untrained eye there are other plants such as Poison Hemlock and Giant Hogweed that resemble it. Secondly, avoid the seeds since they are known to cause uterine contractions. They have been used for contraception and as an abortifacient for centuries so they are dangerous to pregnant women or women who wish to become pregnant.
References
Daucus carota - Wikipedia
5 Garden Weeds You Can Eat
How to Identify Queen Anne's Lace
Images
Enjoy!
