Daucus carota

The wild carrot is a herbaceous, somewhat variable biennial plant that grows between 1 and 2 feet (0.3 and 0.6 m) tall, roughly hairy, with a stiff solid stem. The leaves are tri-pinnate, finely divided and lacy, overall triangular in shape. The flowers are small and dull white, clustered in flat, dense umbels. They may be pink in bud and there may be a reddish flower in the centre of the umbel. The lower bracts are three-forked or pinnate, a fact which distinguishes the plant from other white-flowered umbellifers. As the seeds develop, the umbel curls up at the edges, becomes more congested, and develops a concave surface. The fruits are oval and flattened, with short styles and hooked spines.[1] The dried umbels detach from the plant, becoming tumbleweeds.[2]

Similar in appearance to the deadly poison hemlock, D. carota is distinguished by a mix of tri-pinnate leaves, fine hairs on its solid green stems and on its leaves, a root that smells like carrots, and occasionally a single dark red flower in the centre of the umbel.[3][4]
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