The carrot family is a large group of plants, most of which have lacy, fern-like leaves and dainty umbrella-clusters of small flowers and fruit which separates into two ribbed 1-seeded divisions. The plants are usually rich in oil tubes, and some contain deadly poisons.
Beggar’s Ticks. Seed-Ticks. Bird’s Nest Carrot (_Daucus pusillus_) is probably more familiar in fruit than in flower. The clusters of seeds resemble a bird’s nest. The fact that the seeds are covered with several rows of barbed prickles makes them very difficult to remove from clothing. Their presence in wool renders it inferior in quality. It is very abundant throughout the state from April to June and occurs in most of the Southern and Western States.
The small white flowers grow in a dense, lace-like cluster at the top of slender stems 1-2 ft. high. The leaves are finely divided. The flower cluster is long-stalked and is surrounded by a circle of the green leaves; thus the flowers as well as the seeds have a nest-like appearance.
Wild Carrot. Queen Anne’s Lace (_Daucus carota_), the ancestor of the garden carrot, was introduced from Europe and may be found in scattered places over the state. It is a larger plant than the beggar’s ticks, with very wide-spreading and dainty flower clusters. It does not bloom until summer.
Wild Dill. Prairie Parsley (_Pleiotaenia nuttallii_) is a conspicuous plant on prairies throughout the state and ranges to Michigan and Alabama. The flowers bloom in April and May, and the seeds mature and fall in June and July. The stiff, stout stems, commonly two feet high, become dry and brown but remain standing through the winter months. The upper leaves are not divided so much as the lower, which are deeply divided and have broad segments. The flowers are small and greenish-yellow and grow in clusters about 2 inches broad.
The foliage and seeds were used for seasoning by pioneers. It is very much like the cultivated dill (_Anethum graveolens_), a native of Southeastern Europe. The latter is taller and has leaves with threadlike divisions.
Other well-known members of the carrot family include the parsnip, parsley, myrrh, chervil, caraway, and celery. The well-known poison hemlock (_Conium maculatum_), by which Socrates met his death, is a native of Europe but may now be found in North and South America. It grows in great abundance along the streams of the Edwards Plateau between Fredricksburg and Austin.