Wild carrot sightings are surging across the country this week
iNaturalist Community
Native Plants
That lacy white flower cluster growing in the ditch by your driveway is Queen Anne's Lace, and it's the wild relative your garden carrots came from, so watching it bloom and go to seed shows you carrot biology in action for free.
Wild carrot, also called Queen Anne's Lace, is one of the most-logged plants on iNaturalist this week, with over a thousand people snapping photos of it. It's the wild ancestor of the carrots you eat, and its flat white flower clusters with a tiny dark spot in the center are easy to recognize once you know the trick. A big spike in sightings usually just means it's peak bloom season and people are out walking and noticing it.
Key Findings
1,097 research-grade observations of wild carrot (Daucus carota) were logged on iNaturalist in one week
Wild carrot ranked among the most-observed plant species on the platform this week
The species is the direct wild ancestor of cultivated garden carrots
chevron_right Technical Summary
Wild carrot is having a big week on iNaturalist, with over a thousand sightings logged by everyday nature-watchers. It's a sign that this feathery-leaved wildflower, the ancestor of the garden carrot, is blooming widely right now and easy to spot.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Trending: wild carrot (Daucus carota) — 1097 observations this week
wild carrot is among the most observed plant species this week with 1097 research-grade observations.
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Species Mentioned
Was this useful?
Want to tell us more? (optional)
Thanks for the note!
Something went wrong — please try again.
Too many submissions. Try again in an hour.
Street trees cut heat deaths by 39 percent in European cities
Trees in your local park or street aren't just pretty — they are literally keeping people alive during heatwaves, and planting even a modest number of the ri...
Daucus carota, whose common names include wild carrot, European wild carrot, bird's nest, bishop's lace, carrot flower, and Queen Anne's lace, is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae. It is native to temperate regions of the Old World with a number of regional subspecies, and is naturalised w...