Queen Anne's lace

Description:

Stands approximately 3 feet tall on a narrow green stem. No smell noted.

Habitat:

Woodland border.

Notes:

Not surprisingly, this flower originated in Europe. Queen Anne's Lace was given its name for the lacy nature of the flower head. It was very popular during the reign of who other than....... Queen Anne. (copied from http://www.gardenersnet.com/) Also known as the wild carrot, Queen Anne's lace is in full bloom across much of "temperate" North America, Europe and Asia right now. The white flower head is edible raw or lightly battered and fried. The seeds work well in soups and stews and can flavor tea, too. If you catch these plants early enough, you can eat the roots and leaves. These are indeed wild carrots, the ancestor of all cultivated carrots. By the time the flower appears, though, the root is too woody to eat. (copied from http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/wild.html)