Wild carrot

Daucus carota Yellow beet, bird’s nestThe wild carrot is a very old plant, the ancestral mother of the garden and cultivated carrot. It is a biennial plant that forms a leaf rosette with pinnate, soft-haired leaves in the first year and has only one thin root. The older plant is anchored in the ground with a spindle-shaped, whitish and woody root.

From it grow 40 to 100 cm high, bristly hairy stems. The flowers are composed of many small umbels which in turn consist of many small white flowers. In the center of the umbel, one to four dark purple to black attractant flowers are located in the center of the umbel, which is characteristic for this plant and the most important distinguishing feature.

After flowering, the umbel rays bend inwards, forming a nest. The fruits are prickly. Flowering time: July to October Occurrence: Frequent also here on poor soils, on wasteland, along roadsides and up to a height of 1800 m in mountains.

The annual root of the wild carrot, rarely also the herb and fruits are used for medicinal purposes. The root is dug in spring or late autumn, usually the fresh root is used to make juice. Rarely the root is dried after cleaning and halving.

The herb of the wild carrot is harvested during the flowering period. It is bundled and dried gently in the air. The fruits are harvested before they are fully ripe.

The umbels are dried whole and then the fruits are rubbed off. The active ingredient falcarinol is contained in carrots or for example also in ivy plants. It protects the roots from fungal diseases.

  • Falcarinol
  • Vitamin
  • Provitamin A
  • Flavonoids
  • Essential oil

Folk medicine used the plant juice of the wild carrot against ulcers and wounds. The root sap has a worm killing effect in the intestinal tract, the essential oil has a warming, nerve strengthening and diuretic effect. In orthodox medicine, carrots are also used as a remedy against pinworms and as a draining drug.

The juice of the wild carrot is used, the freshly chopped root is also used as a vegetable.

  • Visual disorders
  • Deficiency of vitamin A and
  • Eating disorders of infants

You can make a tea from the dried root of the wild carrot, herb or fruit: pour 1⁄4 l boiling water over 2 teaspoons of wild carrot (single or mixed) and let it steep for 5 minutes. Drink the tea in sips throughout the day.

Wild carrot is described here as centering, it concentrates the consciousness on the essential, helps to find the inner center, to bundle the forces and to promote the decision-making power. Due to the falcarinol and vitamin A contained in Wild Carrot, it is recommended to avoid severe overdoses.