Queen Anne’s lace (wild carrot)
In short
Summary of findings for quick reference
Queen Anne’s Lace is the wild form of the carrot, and its written history is old and unusually precise. Dioscorides gives it a chapter of its own in the first century and describes the white flower head with a small purple flower in the middle. He records the seed as bringing on menstruation and helping with painful urination and dropsy, swelling from retained fluid. He describes the root as promoting urination and sexual desire. Avicenna records much the same uses in Persian and Arabic medicine around 1025. Culpeper repeats them in English in 1653, describing the flower head closing into a bird’s nest. Maud Grieve still gives a household infusion in 1931. A review of Romania and its neighbours ranks Daucus carota fourth of 106 plants by a calculated index for skin use, and in a survey in Lebanon’s Shouf region it is among the most cited medicinal plants. Much of that agreement, though, was handed down from book to book.
Three parts appear in the record, and they are not interchangeable. The ripe fruit, usually called the seed, carries the essential oil and the menstrual and fertility tradition, the herb goes into tea traditionally used for urinary complaints, and the thin, pale, woody root has little in common with the thick, sweet kitchen carrot. The chemistry varies strongly by origin and plant part. Depending on the population, geranyl acetate, alpha-pinene, sabinene or carotol dominate the essential oil. Carotol belongs to the sesquiterpene group of plant compounds. Other plant compounds include the polyacetylene falcarinol, flavonoids such as luteolin and quercetin, and furanocoumarins, which make skin sensitive to light. Very little has been studied in people. One small placebo-controlled trial tested carrot seed alone, in women with low sexual desire, and found higher questionnaire scores, but no independent replication is known. The other human studies described here gave Daucus carota in a mixture or alongside a prescription drug. Other cited research is cell and rodent work, and the leading 2023 review says well-designed studies in the laboratory, in animals and in people are still necessary.
The current EMA inventory and Commission E list contain no use monograph for wild carrot. The EU register contains no authorised health claim for carrot. Three hazards call for particular care. Deadly relatives such as poison hemlock and water hemlock look similar. Never identify the plant by a single feature, and leave it alone if uncertain. Its stem is usually bristly but can become hollow with age, and a dark central flower is only occasional. A case report describes skin damage after decoction compresses and sunlight exposure. The woman later reported that brown patches had faded after about three months. The seed is traditionally used to bring on menstruation, and animal studies show effects on implantation and hormones. Avoid the plant in pregnancy and breastfeeding. Reliable human evidence for contraceptive use is missing. Never use it for family planning.
Clinical evidence ↔ Historical significanceWe display two separate evidence categories: clinical evidence from modern trials and historical significance from documented healing tradition. Both are valuable, but they answer different questions.Read more
In every encyclopedia entry we evaluate two distinct categories of evidence. Clinical evidence as used in trials meets a narrower but scientifically essential bar. At the same time, the hundreds of thousands of plant species worldwide have only partially been captured and tested in modern studies.
Alongside the trial picture our researchers compile a comprehensive overview of where and since when a plant has been used across different traditions of natural medicine. When a plant has been used as a medicinal plant in many cultures across many generations, that historical significance deserves to be visible too.
Our position: a truly informative overview emerges only when both categories sit side by side. We communicate transparently what counts as what.
Overview
Queen Anne’s Lace, Daucus carota L. subsp. carota, is the wild form of the plant whose cultivated relative, Daucus carota subsp. sativus, is the everyday orange carrot. Wild carrot is usually biennial, completing its life cycle in two years, and a member of the carrot family, Apiaceae, native to Europe including Austria, to temperate Asia and to North Africa, and naturalised across much of the world. Three parts appear in the record, and they are not interchangeable. The ripe fruit, usually called the seed, carries the essential oil and the strongest traditional reputation. The other parts are the herb and the thin, pale, woody taproot, which differs from the thick, sweet kitchen carrot. Its constituents include an essential oil rich in geranyl acetate, alpha-pinene, sabinene and the sesquiterpene carotol, the polyacetylene falcarinol, flavonoids such as luteolin and quercetin, and furanocoumarins, plant compounds that make skin sensitive to light.
The current EMA inventory and Commission E list contain no use monograph for Daucus carota. The EU register contains no authorised health claim for carrot. The risks are serious. Wild carrot has deadly relatives in the carrot family that look like it, above all poison hemlock and water hemlock. Its furanocoumarins can cause painful burns on sunlit skin, and its seed has been recorded since Dioscorides as bringing on menstruation, backed by animal data, which is why pregnancy is a firm contraindication.
History
The written record is old and unusually precise. Dioscorides describes the plant in De Materia Medica, book three, chapter 59, written around 50 to 70 CE, under the Greek names staphylinos agrios and staphylinos kepaios, the wild and the garden kind. His description includes an occasional feature, a white umbel with, in his words, something small of a purple colour in the middle. He describes taking the seed as a drink or inserting it as a pessary, a preparation placed in the vagina. He says it brings on menstruation yet also encourages conception. In liquid medicines, he recommends it for frequent painful urination, dropsy (swelling from retained fluid) and pleurisy (inflammation around the lungs). The root, he says, promotes urination and sexual desire. He also records the Roman names carota and pastinaca rustica. Ismail and colleagues’ 2023 review describes the plant as a Roman remedy for contraception after intercourse. Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine, completed around 1025, lists leaf and root as promoting urination and the seed as promoting urination and menstruation and clearing internal obstructions.
The English herbals carried the same uses forward. In 1653 Nicholas Culpeper devoted his Carrots entry mostly to the wild kind. He believed that wild herbs were almost always more effective as medicines than garden forms. He described the flower head contracting as the seed ripens until it looks like a bird’s nest. He assigned wild carrot to Mercury, to break wind, promote urination and menstruation and help break and expel the stone, with the seed working the same effect. In 1931 Maud Grieve still listed the whole herb as promoting urination and clearing internal obstructions, with a household infusion of one ounce of herb to a pint of boiling water, taken by the wineglassful. She gave the bruised seed against wind and to bring on menstruation. A review with calculated ethnobotanical indices of Romania and neighbouring Eastern European countries ranks Daucus carota fourth of 106 species for its importance in skin complaints. In Lebanon’s Shouf Biosphere Reserve it is among the most cited medicinal plants, above all for kidney stones and urinary and intestinal infections, taken as seed or herb boiled in water. In Austria, where the plant flowers along many meadow edges and roadsides in summer and is the ancestor of the garden carrot, no written record of a household remedy made from the wild form has turned up.
Mechanism
The essential oil of the ripe fruit and flowering heads dominates the chemistry of wild carrot. Composition varies so strongly by origin and plant part that figures from one population do not hold for another. A Portuguese subsp. carota oil contained about 29 per cent geranyl acetate, 27 per cent alpha-pinene and 9 per cent 11-alpha-H-himachal-4-en-1-beta-ol. Other populations are dominated by the sesquiterpene carotol or by beta-bisabolene, and Algerian and Lebanese material carries different characteristic compounds. Beyond the oil the plant contains the polyacetylene falcarinol, also called carotatoxin, flavonoids including luteolin, apigenin, quercetin and kaempferol, and phenylpropanoids such as methylisoeugenol and elemicin. Two constituent groups matter for safety. Furanocoumarins including psoralen, xanthotoxin and bergapten make skin sensitive to light. Bergapten and xanthotoxin have been detected in fresh carrot roots, that is, in the same species, but reliable measurements for wild carrot itself are lacking. Methyleugenol is also reported to occur in Daucus carota L. The EMA’s 2005 public statement on herbal medicinal products containing methyleugenol therefore lists the species among plants where occurrence is reported but content has not been determined.
What the laboratory shows comes from cell cultures and animals. The subsp. carota essential oil inhibited Gram-positive bacteria, the yeast Cryptococcus neoformans and skin fungi in laboratory cultures at low concentrations, and cut nitric oxide production by roughly 20 per cent in immune cells (macrophages) stimulated with a bacterial component, lipopolysaccharide. An oil extract obtained from the flower heads with solvents, and its fractions, trapped free radicals in chemical tests and protected the liver of mice given carbon tetrachloride. Fractions obtained with the solvent pentane slowed the growth of cultured human colon cancer cells and triggered programmed cell death. They inhibited two cell-signalling pathways called MAPK and PI3K. In mice, the extract reduced chemically induced skin papillomas, wart-like skin growths. None of this has been tested in people. Furanocoumarins can damage skin after contact followed by long wave ultraviolet light. A case report describes skin damage after decoction compresses and sunlight exposure. It did not measure which phototoxic compounds remained after boiling. Separately, seed fractions of Daucus carota reduced fertility in female rats as early as 1972, and a 1976 study reported oestrogen-like and pregnancy-preventing effects. Those findings are a reason to avoid the plant during pregnancy.
The human studies described here come from Persian medicine groups in Iran. In 2020 Sadeghi and colleagues randomised 68 women with persistently low sexual desire to carrot seed or placebo for twelve weeks. The seed group took 500 mg three times daily. Thirty women completed in each group. The seed group had higher total and all six domain scores on the Female Sexual Function Index, a questionnaire about sexual function, with statistically significant differences. No adverse event was reported. The conclusion mentions six weeks while the methods describe twelve. The study names Daucus carota, which leaves the wild subspecies unspecified. No independent replication of this result is known. In 2018 Molkara and colleagues tested 30 g daily for eight weeks of a halva in women with sexual dysfunction, alone or with a Persian medicine education programme. The food contained cooked carrot root and aqueous seed extract with almonds, pistachios, saffron, honey and other ingredients. The comparison group received education alone. The study was unblinded and had no placebo group. Its results cannot be attributed to the seed alone. In 2025 Mousavi Khorshidi and colleagues tested capsules containing a seed extract made with alcohol and water, added to the fertility drug clomiphene in men with unexplained infertility. Without lifestyle changes, this additional treatment was not significantly better than clomiphene alone on any measured endpoint. In 2019 Rouhani and colleagues tested a five herb mixture including Daucus carota alongside the diabetes drug metformin in overweight participants with polycystic ovary syndrome, a hormonal disorder. This combination also provides no evidence for an effect of the plant alone.
Other cited studies are laboratory and animal work. In 2016 Alves-Silva and colleagues characterised the subsp. carota essential oil and found activity against bacteria, fungi and layers of microbial cells called biofilms, plus a modest anti-inflammatory effect, all in laboratory cultures, while its antioxidant capacity in chemical assays was negligible. A Lebanese group around Daher, Mroueh and Shebaby published a series on a wild carrot oil extract between 2011 and 2015, reporting liver protection in mice and toxicity to cultured cancer cell lines. Ismail and colleagues’ 2023 review in Plants brings these findings together. It concludes that well-designed studies in the laboratory, in animals and in people are still needed to establish whether wild Daucus carota is safe and effective for human use. Many papers state neither the subspecies nor the plant part.
Evidence
| Outcome | Class | Grade | Effect | Studies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flushing the urinary tract, painful urination and grit-like urinary deposits (gravel) (traditional use)Dioscorides, Avicenna, Culpeper and Grieve between them recommend the seed or herb for painful urination, fluid swelling known as dropsy, urinary stones and grit-like deposits known as gravel, and people in Lebanon’s Shouf region still name the plant above all for kidney stones. No clinical trial has tested this use.Historical records, no clinical trial population | TraditionalTraditional use. Long-standing folk practice or EMA HMPC traditional-use monograph. | DEvidence quality grade D. Preliminary signal. A single small trial, pilot result, or laboratory or animal model. Clinical relevance unclear. This is an evidence rating, not a product endorsement. | Traditional use only | |
| Sexual function scores in women with persistently low sexual desireIn Sadeghi and colleagues’ 2020 trial, women took 500 mg of carrot seed three times daily for twelve weeks or a placebo. In the seed group the total score and all six section scores on the Female Sexual Function Index, a sexual-function questionnaire, were higher than with placebo, a statistically significant difference, and no adverse event was reported. It is one small trial from an Iranian group that shares authors with the Persian medicine review cited here, and no independent replication is known. Its conclusion speaks of six weeks, while its protocol describes twelve. The mixture and additional treatment studies described here cannot show an effect of the plant without accompanying treatment. The study names Daucus carota, and assignment to the wild subspecies is not established.Women of fertile age (one trial, 68 randomised, 60 completed) | EmergingEmerging research. Early small trials suggest an effect but await replication. | DEvidence quality grade D. Preliminary signal. A single small trial, pilot result, or laboratory or animal model. Clinical relevance unclear. This is an evidence rating, not a product endorsement. | Higher scores in one small trial | |
| Effects of the seed on the womb and oestrogen activity (reason to avoid it during pregnancy)In 1972 components of Daucus carota seed separated by the laboratory method chromatography reduced fertility in female albino rats, and in 1976 an Indian study in female mice reported oestrogen-like and pregnancy-preventing effects. This is animal work. It is a reason to avoid the plant entirely during pregnancy. Oestrogen like activity and missing safety data also argue against use while breastfeeding. Whether the seed prevents pregnancy in people, at what dose and with what risks, has not been reliably established.Female rats, mice and rabbits, no human data | TraditionalTraditional use. Long-standing folk practice or EMA HMPC traditional-use monograph. | IEvidence quality grade I (Insufficient). Not enough evidence to draw a conclusion. More research needed. This is an evidence rating, not a product endorsement. | Animal studies only, a warning sign | |
| Antibacterial and antifungal activity of the essential oilIn 2016 Alves-Silva and colleagues studied the essential oil of subsp. carota from Portugal. At low concentrations in laboratory cultures, it inhibited Gram-positive bacteria, the yeast Cryptococcus neoformans and skin fungi. It also weakened layers of Candida albicans cells called biofilms. Its antioxidant capacity in chemical tests was negligible. From the oil of wild carrot, Rossi and colleagues in 2007 identified methylisoeugenol and elemicin as the compounds that inhibit Campylobacter jejuni, a cause of gut infections. None of this has been studied in people.Laboratory cultures of bacteria, yeasts and skin fungi (dermatophytes) | TraditionalTraditional use. Long-standing folk practice or EMA HMPC traditional-use monograph. | IEvidence quality grade I (Insufficient). Not enough evidence to draw a conclusion. More research needed. This is an evidence rating, not a product endorsement. | Laboratory only | |
| Antioxidant, liver-protective and cell-damaging activity of an oil extractA Lebanese research group studied an oil extract of wild carrot umbels between 2011 and 2015. The extract and its fractions protected the liver of mice given the solvent carbon tetrachloride, slowed the growth of cultured human colon cancer cells and drove them into programmed cell death. Applied to mouse skin, the extract cut the number of chemically induced papillomas, which are wart-like skin growths, by up to 89 per cent. Given by stomach tube, it did very little. None of it has been tested in people, and a 2023 review states that well-designed studies in the laboratory, in animals and in people are still necessary.Cultured human cell lines and mice, no human data | TraditionalTraditional use. Long-standing folk practice or EMA HMPC traditional-use monograph. | IEvidence quality grade I (Insufficient). Not enough evidence to draw a conclusion. More research needed. This is an evidence rating, not a product endorsement. | Cells and mice only |
Usage
Forms and preparation
The historical preparations are simple and are described here, not recommended. Grieve’s 1931 household form is an infusion of one ounce of the herb to one pint of boiling water, taken by the wineglassful, as tea in the evening and morning. For the seed she gives about one third to one teaspoonful, bruised. Dioscorides gives the seed as a drink or as a pessary, a preparation placed in the vagina. The 2020 trial used capsules of 500 mg of carrot seed three times daily instead, and the 2018 study a sweet halva made from cooked carrot root and aqueous seed extract with almonds, pistachios, saffron, honey and other ingredients. Keep skin that has touched the plant or a compress made from it out of the sun. The published case report describes skin damage after a boiled decoction and sunlight exposure. It did not measure whether or how much phototoxic material survived boiling. No preparation makes a misidentified plant safe. Gather only when identity is reliably established and leave uncertain plants alone. Check local gathering rules and bans in protected areas.
Dosage
The current EMA inventory and Commission E list contain no use monograph with an assessed dosage for wild carrot. These sources therefore supply neither a maximum daily amount nor a treatment duration or a dose for children. Historical quantities and trial protocols are not recommendations. Grieve describes one ounce of herb infused in a pint of water, taken by the wineglassful, and one third to one teaspoonful of bruised seed. The 2020 trial tested 500 mg of carrot seed three times daily for twelve weeks. The 2025 trial gave a daily capsule amount of 2 g for 90 days, containing a seed extract made with alcohol and water, alongside clomiphene. This is not an amount for raw seed. Copying a trial protocol at home does not provide an assessed dose for self treatment. The absence of a tested dose matters most when deciding who can use the plant. The seed is the part with reproductive activity, so in pregnancy and breastfeeding the question is not a smaller amount but avoiding it entirely. If you have kidney disease, diabetes or an allergy to the carrot family (Apiaceae), or take lithium, hormones, blood pressure medicines or medicines that make skin sensitive to light, do not go looking for a dose either. For everyone else wild carrot is a plant to read about and to learn to recognise. If you want a herb for a urinary or digestive complaint, ask a doctor or pharmacist about preparations with an assessed dosage.
Special populations
Pregnancy and breastfeeding: avoid. The seed is recorded as bringing on menstruation from Dioscorides onward. Animal studies show effects against implantation and oestrogen-like activity. A Persian medicine review advises avoiding the plant in pregnancy, citing properties that bring on menstruation, can cause miscarriage and stimulate the womb. The oestrogen-like activity and the absence of breastfeeding data also rule out use while breastfeeding. Children: there are no data and no assessed dosage for children, so do not give them the plant. If you have kidney disease, avoid it because of the irritant volatile oil. If you have diabetes, avoid Daucus carota preparations, as the Persian medicine review advises. If you are allergic to celery, carrot, mugwort or birch pollen you may react, since the carrot family is part of the recognised celery, carrot and mugwort cross-reactivity pattern. If you take lithium, hormone preparations, blood pressure medicines or photosensitising drugs, or receive ultraviolet light therapy, treat the plant as contraindicated until a doctor or pharmacist has checked it.
Safety
Drug interactions
There is no official interaction list for wild carrot. The cautions below come from reference compendia and a Persian medicine review. They rest on the plant’s diuretic and oestrogen-like activity rather than on controlled interaction studies in people, but take them seriously all the same. Lithium: the effect on urination may reduce how much lithium the body removes and raise its blood levels, which matters because lithium has a narrow safety margin. If you take lithium, do not take wild carrot preparations. Oestrogen preparations, including the contraceptive pill and hormone therapy: large amounts of wild carrot are described as having weak oestrogen-like activity, which may reduce the effect of the prescribed hormone. Medicines that make skin sensitive to light, for example some antibiotics, water tablets (diuretics), retinoids and psoralens, and ultraviolet light therapy: the extra sensitivity to light raises the risk of sunburn, blistering and rash. Blood pressure medicines: large amounts appear to raise blood pressure and can work against treatment. Reference sources also advise stopping at least two weeks before planned surgery, because the plant may affect blood pressure. If you rely on a medicine and are thinking of taking wild carrot in any concentrated form, talk to a doctor or pharmacist first.
Contraindications
Pregnancy: avoid entirely. The seed is recorded as bringing on menstruation from Dioscorides to Grieve, animal studies show anti-implantation and oestrogenic effects, and a Persian medicine review explicitly advises avoiding the plant in pregnancy. Breastfeeding: avoid, because of the reported oestrogen-like activity and the absence of lactation data. Children: not appropriate, since there are no data and no assessed dosage for children. Known allergy to plants of the carrot family, or to celery, carrot, mugwort or birch pollen, because of the recognised cross-reactivity known as the celery-carrot-mugwort-spice syndrome. Existing kidney disease or reduced kidney function, because the volatile oil irritates the kidneys. Concurrent ultraviolet light therapy or photosensitising medication, because of the furanocoumarin content. Any material that cannot be identified with certainty as Daucus carota, because of the deadly Apiaceae lookalikes.
Side effects
The best documented undesirable effect is phytophotodermatitis, skin inflammation after plant contact and sunlight. The skin burns, reddens and can blister. Brown discolouration can last for months. Allergic reactions are possible, including itching and swelling in the mouth in people with a celery, carrot and mugwort type of allergy. Handling the plant can also cause contact dermatitis, skin inflammation after direct contact. Reference works warn that high doses of wild carrot oil can cause kidney damage and nerve problems. A review cites Peters 2014 for mild headache, nausea, ringing in the ears and abdominal pain that passed on their own. The report leaves subspecies, plant part and preparation unspecified. It supplies no safe amount for wild carrot. Sadeghi’s trial reported no adverse events. Only 30 women completed the seed treatment, while the other 30 took placebo. This is not general evidence of safety. If any unexpected reaction appears, stop and seek medical advice. The gravest risk in gathering is a mix-up. Confusion between wild carrot and poison hemlock has been recorded, and in Hungary water hemlock roots, mistaken mostly for parsley or celery and less often for parsnip or carrot, occasionally killed whole families. Take particular care when identifying plants you gather.
Look-alikes
Similar plants and look-alikes
Poison hemlock, Conium maculatum (Gefleckter Schierling)
Mistaking poison hemlock for wild carrot can be fatal. Poison hemlock has killed people. Vetter’s 2004 review in Food and Chemical Toxicology calls Conium maculatum one of the most poisonous of the higher plants. Coniine, gamma-coniceine and related toxic compounds called piperidine alkaloids occur throughout the stems, leaves and roots, as well as in the flowers and fruits, and poisoning can progress through convulsions and coma to death. Poison hemlock has a smooth, hairless, hollow stem streaked or blotched with purple. Wild carrot usually has a ridged, bristly stem without purple blotches, but older stems can also become hollow. Crushed hemlock foliage smells unpleasant and mousy. A single flower, smell or stem feature is not a reliable identification test. Leave every uncertain plant alone.
Water hemlock, Cicuta virosa and Cicuta maculata (Wasserschierling)
The second lethal relative. Schep and colleagues reviewed water hemlock poisoning in Clinical Toxicology in 2009. Cicutoxin, a polyacetylene poison, causes violent seizures. Even a small amount of the plant can cause severe poisoning, which can be fatal without prompt care. A Hungarian review of historical sources counts 20 mentions of the rootstock as a poisonous part and ten of the leaves. These are mentions, not toxin measurements or frequencies of poisoning. Habitat can offer a clue. Cicuta grows in wet ground, ditches, marsh edges and pond margins, while wild carrot prefers dry open ground. Water hemlock also has a stout hollow stem, a thick rootstock chambered inside with a yellowish oily juice, and coarser leaflets whose veins run to the notches between the teeth rather than to their tips. Habitat alone cannot establish identity. Leave uncertain plants alone.
Fool’s parsley, Aethusa cynapium (Hundspetersilie)
Fool’s parsley belongs to the carrot family and grows in gardens, on arable land and waste ground. It is poisonous and can cause serious poisoning. Norwegian poison information also describes historical deaths. Its leaves are dark green and glossy, and its flowers are white. Narrow bracteoles, small leaflike structures, hang down at the outer edge of the small flower clusters. These features are not a reliable identification guide. Leave an uncertain plant alone.
Giant hogweed, Heracleum mantegazzianum (Riesen-Bärenklau)
Giant hogweed resembles wild carrot because both belong to the carrot family, although their shapes differ. Its sap contains furanocoumarins, compounds that make skin sensitive to sunlight, and causes severe blistering burns on sun-exposed skin, known as phytophotodermatitis. Size can offer a clue. Giant hogweed grows several metres tall, with large flower heads. Its leaves are huge and deeply lobed, and its thick, bristly stem is blotched with purple. Wild carrot can reach about 150 cm and has finely divided leaves. Size alone cannot establish identity. Never strim, cut or touch it with bare skin.
Wild parsnip, Pastinaca sativa (Wilde Pastinake)
Wild parsnip and wild carrot were also confused in historical texts. Old herbals used the name pastinaca for both, and early modern botanists glossed Dioscorides’ plant variously as Pastinaca, Carota or Daucus. In the field, their flower colours can offer a clue. Wild parsnip has yellow flower heads. Wild carrot has white ones, occasionally with a dark flower at the centre. Flower colour alone cannot confirm the plant’s identity. Wild parsnip sap is strongly phototoxic, meaning it can cause blistering burns when skin exposed to it is in sunlight, so identify it by eye and keep your hands off it while you are still learning.
FAQs
Which parts of wild carrot appear in the tradition, and are they interchangeable?
No. Three different parts appear. The ripe fruit, usually called the seed, carries the essential oil and the strongest reputation, and it is the part behind the menstrual and fertility records and the modern trials. The whole herb is the part in Grieve’s urinary tea. The thin, woody taproot is a third part and has little in common with the thick, sweet kitchen carrot of the cultivated subspecies sativus. Findings for one part do not apply to the others.
Is wild carrot approved by any European regulator?
The current EMA herbal medicines inventory and the complete Commission E list contain no use monograph for Daucus carota. The EU register contains no authorised health claim for carrot. The EMA names the species in its 2005 statement on methyleugenol, a substance that can damage genetic material and cause cancer. Occurrence was reported, but its content was not determined. The document sets neither a use nor a dose.
Can I use wild carrot during pregnancy or breastfeeding?
No. Avoid wild carrot in any form during pregnancy. From Dioscorides through Avicenna and Culpeper to Grieve the seed is recorded as bringing on the menstrual flow, and animal work shows effects on the womb and oestrogen-like activity. In 1972 seed fractions reduced fertility in female rats, and in 1976 oestrogen-like and pregnancy-preventing effects were reported. A Persian medicine review states plainly that it should be avoided in pregnancy, citing properties that bring on menstruation, can cause miscarriage and stimulate the womb. Leave it out while breastfeeding too, because of its oestrogen-like activity and the lack of breastfeeding data. Ordinary garden and shop carrots are a different matter.
How do I tell wild carrot from poison hemlock and water hemlock?
Its lookalikes can kill. Wild carrot usually has a ridged stem with bristly hairs, leaves that smell of carrot and long divided bracts below the flower head. A dark central flower occurs only occasionally. Older tall stems can become hollow. Poison hemlock has a hairless stem blotched with purple. Water hemlock usually grows on wet ground and has a chambered rootstock. No single feature is enough for reliable identification. Leave the plant alone if you cannot establish its identity safely. Wild carrot is not a plant for beginners to forage.
Can wild carrot cause a skin reaction in sunlight?
Yes, such skin damage has been reported. A 2011 case report describes a 24 year old woman who applied compresses made from fresh wild carrot boiled in water to her foot for three days while exposed to the July sun. On the third day her skin burned and reddened. She later reported that the brown patches had faded after about three months. When she later used the preparation on her other foot without sunlight exposure, the skin remained unchanged. The report did not measure phototoxic compounds after boiling. If you handle the fresh plant or put it on your skin, keep that area out of the sun. If you take medicines that make skin sensitive to light or receive light therapy, avoid the plant.
Is wild carrot the same plant as the carrot I eat?
Same species, different subspecies, and the difference matters. The vegetable is Daucus carota subsp. sativus, bred for a thick, sweet storage root. Wild carrot is Daucus carota subsp. carota, whose root is thin, pale, woody and sharp rather than sweet. Reviews warn that many studies do not say which subspecies they used, so a finding about carrot as a food cannot be read as a finding about the wild plant, or the other way round. The carrot has its own entry in this encyclopedia.
Was wild carrot seed really used as a contraceptive, and does that work?
Yes, it was used, but reliable human evidence for a contraceptive effect is missing. Dioscorides gives the seed as bringing on the menstrual flow, yet in the same chapter says it encourages conception, and Culpeper wrote the same in 1653. Ismail and colleagues’ 2023 review describes the plant as a Roman remedy for contraception after intercourse, and Indian records document the seed’s use for birth control. These uses point in the opposite direction. What the tradition agrees on is only that the seed acts on the womb and on fertility. Reliable dose and safety data for that use are also missing, and the animal data that make the tradition plausible are the same data that make the plant unsafe in pregnancy. Never use it for family planning, whether to avoid pregnancy or to conceive. If you want contraception, talk to a doctor or pharmacist.
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