Davey Tree Flipbooks

46 WILD CARROT (Daucus carota) PLANT DESCRIPTION Wild carrot, or Queen Anne's lace, is a broadleaf biennial weed that can be seen from spring to fall as a 2–5 foot tall, upright, multiple-stem plant with flat-topped, white flower heads. Wild carrot can also be seen during spring or fall as a low-growing seedling or rosette. Wild carrot's flowers can be easily spotted growing abundantly along roadways for most of the season. LEAF: The leaves are deeply divided with many fine lobes resembling carrot leaves. STEM: Multiple stems are solid, covered in white hairs, and lack branches. FLOWER: The white flower heads bloom at the end of stems and are composed of many small flowers tightly arranged in an upright, flat-topped umbrella formation. As seeds develop, the seed head closes upwards into a bird's nest appearance. SEED: The seeds are small, round, and greenish yellow with red stripes and covered in white barbs. REPRODUCTION: The seeds function as the primary means of reproduction. Most seeds are dropped around the parent plant but can also spread by attaching to animals, clothing, or equipment. A mature wild carrot plant is capable of producing thousands of seeds that remain viable in the soil for one to two years. Wild carrot has a large fleshy tap root, which has a distinct carrot smell when cut or crushed. WHY IT IS NOXIOUS: Wild carrot is abundant in Ohio and is known to cause maintenance concerns along roadways and invade agriculture fields. SEASONAL IDENTIFICATION WHEN TO FIND: Wild carrot is easily noticed in summer with abundant white flowers but is also easy to locate in fall or winter as a plant skeleton. SPRING IDENTIFICATION = EASY TO MODERATE Seedlings and rosettes can be found growing low among other plants and grass. The deeply divided, finely lobed compound leaves are the key to identification. Stems develop by late spring. SUMMER IDENTIFICATION = EASY Wild carrot populations mature at different times throughout the season, but by midsummer, stems have grown long and flat-topped white flowers are abundant in mowed fields. Seeds on most plants will develop by late summer. FALL IDENTIFICATION = EASY Mature wild carrot should mostly die off by fall. In warm fall seasons, look below dead wild carrot plants for germinated seedlings. WINTER IDENTIFICATION = EASY In unmowed areas, dead plant skeletons with multiple stems and cupped seedheads persist through winter into the following spring. SIMILAR-LOOKING SPECIES POISON HEMLOCK (Conium maculatum) flowers are white, but not as densely arranged or as flat topped. Poison hemlock leaves are similar but are darker green, glossy, and fern like. Stems are hairless, hollow, and have purple spots. YARROW (Achillea millefolium) leaves are similar but more delicate and feathery. Yarrow has similar flat-topped white flowers but is not as symmetrical. COMMON RAGWEED (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) looks similar in the seedling stage only. Leaf lobes are more rounded. LOW HIGH ohio distribution roadside distribution growth seeds ability to dominate difficulty of control WHERE TO FIND: Wild carrot is common and widespread in Ohio. Found growing from the edge of the road to the fence, wild carrot is most common in sunny, well-drained fields and slopes. CONTROL METHODS: MECHANICAL: Mow from spring to early summer only to maintain visibility and reduce seed production. Hand pull individual plants. CHEMICAL: Make directed or broadcast applications from spring to early summer with selective herbicide. Make applications before flowers bloom. CULTURAL: Plant tall fescue in the fall and allow to grow tall in spring. RECOMMENDATION SUMMARY: Wild carrot germinates in spring, lives for one full season, and overwinters as a rosette. In the second spring, the stems bolt and produce flowers and seeds before dying. Accomplishing control should not be difficult with many opportunities to prevent seed production. For best control results, make herbicide applications in spring to early summer. Fall applications to rosettes and seedlings can also be effective. Use directed applications for large colonies and broadcast applications for sporadic wild carrot growing in turf. Mow at flower emergence to reduce seed production. Plant tall fescue in early fall and allow to grow tall in spring to compete for space and to shade out seedlings. Failure to control wild carrot will allow this tall-growing weed to proliferate along the roadways, causing maintenance and site distance issues as well as potentially spreading into adjacent properties. biennial x 2 RIVM LEVEL OF CONCERN

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