Wild Carrots

Wild Carrot - Daucus carota

After commenting on the ammi in the flower beds I then noticed some more umbelliferous flowers which I had to look up in the Encyclopedia of British Wild Flowers. After some consideration we decided they were wild carrots. My knowledge of wild flowers is only very basic and I had not realised what they were before. Looking at the above photo you can see there is a tap root and it smells of carrot. Under the flower is a ruff of bracts which is a distinguishing feature. It grows on dry grassland and sunny banks, especially on chalk and limestone near the sea.
This is also known as Queen Anne's Lace which I have established is a general term for flowers of this type. The leaves also smell of carrot when bruised and when it has finished flowering the outer spokes of the flower close up packing in the inner flowers. It apparently crosses with the garden carrot which gives it variations and is generally regarded as a weed, albeit rather an attractive one. I have left several plants at the top of the garden and will see how long they survive. They can be annual, biennial or a short lived perennial.