Wild carrot

The ancestor of carrots ☘️🥕
The wild carrot (scientific name Daucus carota) is a herbaceous plant belonging to the Apiaceae family, 30-90 cm tall. It lives in uncultivated meadows, fields and along roadsides; it is considered a weed.
It’s an ancestor of the carrot we use in the kitchen 🥕 Its woody, whitish root, with an acrid taste and unpleasant smell, has nothing in common with the cultivated carrot, obtained after many generations with a slow improvement of the spontaneous species.
Fruits have long thorns that stick to the hair of any passing animal 🐕.
When it rains, the fruiting tops close in a particular way, taking on a shape similar to a bird’s nest 🪺
In the flowers, arranged in an umbrella ☂️, there are small scented glands that attract insects 🐝🦋
⁉️ Did you know? 😲
The wild carrot is distinguished by having a small, very dark flower 🌺 in the center of the white inflorescence, which almost simulates an insect. It seems to be a trick to attract pollinating insects 🐝🦋 by signaling the possible presence of nectar.
This central purple-colored spot allows it not to be confused with the toxic hemlock.
Photo Pixabay