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QUEEN ANNE'S LACE

Also known as Wild Carrot • Birds Nest • Bees Nest • Devils Plague • Lace Flower • Rantipole

*IMPORTANT: Queen Anne's Lace is very often confused with other, extremely dangerous plants including poison hemlock. DO NOT harvest unless 100% certain of it's identity.

Perhaps the most popular story surrounding this plant is that it is named after Queen Anne who pricked her finger while making some fine lace, staining it with a tiny drop of red blood. This plant often has a purple 'pin prick of blood' in the center... though not always. Others believe that the name actually comes, not from the queen, but from Saint Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary, patron saint of lace makers.

In magic making, the flowers of this plant are said to be used in ancient rituals and spells to increase fertility in women and sexual potency in men.

The Sunday preceding the feast day of St. Michael (September 29th), was once known as "Carrot Sunday" in Scotland. On this day women, would sing as they would gather wild carrots, forked roots being most highly prized.

Cleft fruitful, fruitful, fruitful,
Joy of carrots surpassing upon me,
Michael the brave endowing me,
Bride the fair be aiding me.

The carrots would then be washed and tied with three-ply scarlet thread and kept in sand until the feast day. On St. Michael's Day the carrots are given and prized as gifts with wishes of plenty, prosperity and fertility. See here for more on this Scottish folk lore.

Listed as a noxious weed by the USDA, this plant is considered a beneficial weed by many. Though it may interfere with carrot crops (creating a tough, fibrous hybrid), it is thought to be a beneficial companion plant to tomatoes and lettuce. Queen Anne's Lace also attracts parasitic wasps and other 'good bugs', that help to control agricultural pests.

This plant should not be used by pregnant women or women trying to become pregnant. It has been used as birth control and to encourage menstruation. Also used for kidney stones, thyroid, and to stimulate sex hormone levels.

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