Habitat and Identification

The wild carrot is a flowering perennial plant in the Apiaceae family. commonly found throughout the UK, consisting of long slender stems culminating in a large panicle at the head of the plant with clusters of white flowers, creating a stark contrast between the lush greens of the stems and the clean white-yellow of the petals, each individual plant can produce hundreds of flower heads each with 10 plus flowers, with 5-10 petals each. Interestingly, on most panicles of the wild carrot, 1 floret is normally purple. The wild carrot can often grow up to a meter in height often forming clumps among grasses and similar wildflowers. Through august to September the wild carrot flowers, showcasing its many flowers, however after the flowering the wild carrot forms concave seed heads that look almost whisk like, sometimes likened to birds’ nests, the wild carrot prefers well drained soil,  but can often be found growing in wildflower meadows, grasslands, coastal hedgerows/banks, and rural towns and field margins.

 Uses and Folklore.

The wild carrot has a particularly rich history in English and Scottish folklore, being closely linked to the old traditions of St Michael’s day, where the women of a village would dig up the plants and sing hymn like songs before presenting them in bundles of 3 to the men of the village, a tradition with deep roots in religion, community and their symbolic connection with fertility. Historically the wild carrot has been used as a primitive birth control, as an infusion of wild carrot has been known to induce menstruation and induce uterine contractions. Furthermore the leaves of wild carrot has been used in a poultice of the roots to reduce the inflammation from sores and ulcers. In more modern medical practice wild carrot has been used as an ingredient in anti-aging creams (whether you believe in them or not), finally the wild carrot has been used as a food source by many native communities throughout history, also it smells like carrots, without actually producing the carrot like roots