Queen Anne's Lace
Order: Apiales
Family: Apiaceae
Genus: Daucus
Species: D. carota
General Characteristics: Leaves are pinnately dissected, the blades 5-15 cm long and 2-7 cm wide, the ultimate segments linear to lanceolate, 2-12 mm long and 0.5-2 mm. wide, those of the upper leaves more elongate. The flowers are c ompound umbels several or solitary, the peduncles 2.5-6 cm long; involucre bracts pinnatifid into firm, elongate, filiform segments; bractlets of the involucel linear and entire, often exceeding the flowers; inflorescence showy, 4-12 cm wide, narrower in fruit than in flower, the numerous rays unequal; ultimate umbellets with 20 or more flowers; flowers white or yellowish, rarely pink, the central flower in the umbel purple.
Special Adaptations: As the compound umbel matures it folds in on itself trapping all the spined fruits until some animal brushes the plant and is covered with the seeds.
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