What is Queen Anne's lace?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
July 26, 2002
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The carrot (Daucus carota Linnaeus) is the perfect example of centuries of selection. The wild plant has a woody bitter tap-root. The domestic has an orange edible root. Native to Eurasia and Africa; it was probably cultivated long before the Greeks. In John Gerard's time (1597), there were two domesticated varieties; one with a yellow tap-root, the other with red.
The generic name, Daucus, Linnaeus retained from ancient Greek name, daukos; the late Latin name, carota, was apparently a commonly used name in southern Europe. The carrot has been introduced wherever Europeans have settled. The wild carrot probably traveled along in hay and animal bedding.
Mrs. Grieve in A Modern Herbal (1931) reports that carrots, wild and domesticated, were called bird's nest and bees' nest, in reference to the curling of the compound umbel as the seeds dried. It is interesting then, that in North America the wild carrot is referred to as Queen Anne's lace.
The American legend says that Anne of Denmark (1574-1619), queen consort of King James I, was an expert lace-maker. The central flower of the carrot's umbel is reddish-purple. This odd flower was placed upon the umbel for the time Anne pricked her finger and a drop of blood stained the lace. According to Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary the name Queen Anne's lace did not appear in print until 1895, two hundred seventy-six years after Anne's death.
Mrs. Grieve's Herbal may hold a clue to the origin of the legend. "In the reign of James I, it became the fashion for ladies to use its feathery leaves in their head-dresses. A very charming, fern-like decoration may be obtained if the thick end of a large carrot is cut off and placed in a saucer of water...."
This decoration may have had a naughty connotation. Gerard's Herbal (1633) states, "The root boiled and eaten...procureth bodily lust....seed drunke bringeth downe the desired sickness (contraceptive)...also good for the passions of the mother...."
The Kentucky Native Plant Society has a close-up of the umbel of the wild carrot or Queen Anne's lace. To view the photograph, click on the link:
http://knps.org/Wildflowers/queenann.htm
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
How did the coconut lead to tissue culture? Weird Plants - November 22, 2001
What medicinal root is a common vegetable today? Herbal Folklore - November 12, 2001
What vegetable makes a walking stick? Weird Plants - October 30, 2003
How does garlic get its flavor? Weird Plants - April 21, 2005
What is the wolf's peach? Herbal Folklore - November 25, 2002
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