Definition

Noun: * Queen Anne's lace: A common name for the wild carrot (Daucus carota), a flowering plant in the parsley family. It is characterized by its delicate, lacy clusters of small white flowers (forming a compound umbel) and its finely divided, fern-like leaves. The plant has a thin, edible taproot that is typically yellowish or pale in color. It is native to Eurasia but has become widely naturalized in many other regions, including North America.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The roadside was covered in the delicate white blooms of Queen Anne's lace.
  • Be careful not to confuse Queen Anne's lace with the similar-looking, but poisonous, water hemlock.
  • The Queen Anne's lace plant is the wild ancestor of the cultivated carrot.

Advanced Usage

• The name "Queen Anne's lace" is often said to refer to the lace-like appearance of the flower cluster or to a legend about Queen Anne of England pricking her finger while making lace, with a single dark red or purple floret in the center of the umbel representing a drop of blood.
• In botanical and horticultural contexts, the scientific name is used for precision.

Variants and Related Words

• Wild carrot (n): The most common alternative name for Queen Anne's lace.
• Bird's nest (n): A name sometimes used for the plant, particularly when the flower umbel curls inward to form a nest-like shape as it goes to seed.
• Daucus carota (n): The formal Latin binomial (genus and species) name for the plant.

Synonyms

• Wild carrot
• Bird's nest (in reference to the seeding stage)

Notes on Different Meanings

• "Queen Anne's lace" refers specifically to this one plant species. It is not a general term for lace or for other plants with lacy flowers (e.g., some species of are sometimes called "false Queen Anne's lace").
• The term is a proper noun and is typically capitalized.

Noun

1. a widely naturalized Eurasian herb with finely cut foliage and white compound umbels of small white or yellowish flowers and thin yellowish roots