Daucus carota

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Queen Anne’s Lace

*Non-native

 

This flower was named in honor of Queen Anne of England, who was an expert lace-maker. A tiny dark center in tiny white flowers was said to symbolize a drop of blood from the queen’s finger when she pricked it while making a lace doily.

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A multitude of tiny white flowers form an umbrella-shaped center, creating a prop for many a child’s outdoor play. Despite its delicate lacy looks, Queen Anne’s Lace seems ubiquitous, springing up in many a dry field and beside many a road.

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It has been used medicinally to treat a variety of ailments, most notably as birth control (chemicals in the plant’s seeds are an abortfacient).

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This beauty was even the subject of a poem by William Carlos Williams.

 

(Information and photograph: Virginia Wildflowers virginiawildflowers.org.)