Queen Anne’s lace the true carrot

>> YOUR LINK HERE: ___ http://youtube.com/watch?v=m5D2nn2eQwc

The plant we commonly refer to as Queen Anne’s Lace, Daucus carota, is really the parent of all carrot plants. To the hunters and gatherers of the 16th century it was a valuable edible wildroot in Europe and Asia. Today it continues to be a valuable, agronomic rootcrop for its vision health benefits due to the high carotene content. • The earliest taproot color was orange, selected in the Netherlands in the early 18th century. Over years of breeding and selection the carrot has developed a tender core, unlike the woody taproot of Queen Anne’s lace, and the bitterness has disappeared. In the grocery stores you can even find carrots today in an array of colors from yellows to purples and even white. Hundreds of years of breeding! • The delicate, white flower is a favorite of wildflower bouquets in the heat of late summer. This non-native weed, commonly found on roadsides is visited by many pollinators including bees, wasps, flies and beetles. Better yet, the plant is in the same family as parsley and dill, which means you can use it as source food for the Black Swallowtail butterfly larvae. To keep them from eating your precious garden herbs you can pick off the larvae and put them on a Queen Anne’s Lace plant! • Joyce Browning Horticulturist, Master Gardener Coordinator • Video credit: Bethany Evans Longwood Gardens Professional Gardener Program Alumni; CPH • The University of Maryland Extension Home and Garden Information Center's mission is to develop and deliver science-based, sustainable gardening information and solutions through outreach education for better human and environmental health. • • Send us your plant and pest questions. Our Certified Professional Horticulturists are ready to help! http://extension.umd.edu/learn/ask-ga... • • Explore our extensive gardening content online. http://extension.umd.edu/hgic

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