August 1, 2010

Wild Carrot


Forgotten to mow... In this dry meadow Wild Carrots (Daucus carota) abound. Sometimes they grow as high as your shoulders. There is a vague smell of carrots, but the roots are yellowish white and inedible.


The yellow dots are Hawkweed Oxtongue (Picris hieracioides).













 




An umbel against a gloomy August sky shows the characteristic build of all Apiaceae. At the root of the umbel is a ring of small ramified bracts. Several dozen stalks carry smaller umbels, each with its own ring of bracts and a posy of tiny white flowers on stalks. The beginnings of fruits are visible as dark dots in the flowers.








In the centre, just above the stem, is a darker spot. In about half of all Wild carrots there are umbels with one ore more wine red central flowers.


Normally these flowers are uncompletely formed, but here above is one who even carries stamen.