Queen Anne's Lace

Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota) is one of my favorite flowers (I know, I say that about every flower).It immigrated to this country from Northern Europe with the first settlers, and it has made itself at home enough so that USDA classifies it as a noxious weed. It is a pest in pastures they say. I say that is just due to bad pasture management.It grows in dry ditches, along roadsides, and other dry areas. Although it is an immigrant it has integrated into the ecosystem. The caterpillars of black swallowtails eat the leaves, bees and other nectar drinkers and pollen eaters feed from the flowers, and lacewings and other predatory insects seek prey (aphids) there.
There is often a dark red to black flower in the center of the inflorescence, which may serve to attrack insects. It is a biennial which means it does not flower till the second year, and then dies after seed are formed. After a couple of years there will be both one and two yesr old plants growing together so that there will always be flowers.
The seeds of the Queen Anne's Lace have been used as a contraceptive in both Native American and Chinese cultures.
The root can be eaten when the plant is young, but it quickly becomes woody. It could be like dandelions. The foliage is said to be eatable when picked before the flower buds form, but around here dandelion flower buds appear with the foliage and MY! Are they ever bitter!! Also the Queen Anne's Lace can be mistaken for Water Hemlock, which is deadly poisonous. However water hemlock grows in-- you guessed it---wet places.
As a child I loved flowers as much as the name Queen Anne's lace. I remember walking in it when it was above my head, It may grow to 4 feet tall. I wrote a poem about it, but thankfully, the poem is lost.
I had an aunt who loved them too. She contributed to their spread by collecting the seed and spreading them along the road as she drove by.