Queen Anne's Lace

Description:

Daucus carota is a variable biennial plant, usually growing up to 1 m tall and flowering from June to August. The umbels are claret-coloured or pale pink before they open, then bright white and rounded when in full flower, measuring 3–7 cm wide with a festoon of bracts beneath; finally, as they turn to seed, they contract and become concave like a bird's nest. The dried umbels detach from the plant, becoming tumbleweeds

Habitat:

Growing in an open area along the roadside in the midlands of South Carolina.

Notes:

It's also known as wild carrot and bishop's lace. Like the cultivated carrot, the wild carrot root is edible while young, but quickly becomes too woody to consume. The crushed seeds were once thought to be a form of birth control and its use for this purpose was first described by Hippocrates over 2,000 years ago. Thanks to chesterbperry for the ID.