Wild carrot (daucus carota) for concentration

jowitt.europe

Wild carrot seeds (daucus carota) - useful for concentration and a great spice.

I think many have seen wild carrots, but, maybe, not everyone recognizes or uses them. It is easy to recognise the plant in the second year when it blossoms. In autumn their seed "nests" look like a tiny bird nests. They remain long in fields and meadows.

Recently I read an excellent article in Natur & Heilen 9/2021 magazine.

Swiss scientist Roger Kalbermatten discovered that this great plant improves concentration, helps to learn and work and can replace the medicament Ritalin. Maybe the idea came to scientists after looking at the plant. Umbellifers when blossoming look very much the same, but a blossoming wild carrot has a red or black spot right in the middle of the flower (can you see it in my photo?) . And when the plant is fertilised it forms a centred ‘nest’

The article says that wild carrot helps distracted children to concentrate, to better resist the external stimuli, helps overactive children.

Wild carrots contain Provitamin A, vitamins B1, B2, C, pectin, mineral salts. They are used for making Mother tinctures (made from fresh plant) and homeopathic medicines D6, D8, D12 to improve mental activity, help when there is a lack of initiative, when a person is scattered, distracted, when the mood is depressed ...My knowledge of homeopathy is very limited. May be @torey could comment on this. 

I use herbs as they are, so I just chew the seeds, add powdered to herbal salt or use as a spice. I take my “medicine” in form of food.

A wild carrot, like a domestic carrot, is a biennial plant. Probably the roots are also very useful, but the plant is difficult to identify in the first year and the roots have to be harvested in autumn of the first year. When it blooms, then all the power in the seeds, not in the roots. I take the seeds.

Does anybody have experience in using wild carrots? 

Monek Marie

Yes, I eat the wild carrot and have used the leaves. I have not used the seeds but they are plentiful around here.

There is another wild plant that looks a lot like the wild carrot so if you are not sure you have id'd it properly here are the things I do when hunting and harvesting new plants. I have this set up for the wild carrot

1. the wild carrot will have a dark spot in the center. Once in a while that spot will fall off but it is normally there so I look for this first.
2. Crush the top of the flower. you will have a gentle carrot smell.
3. Dig up the plant and check to see if you have a small carrot root.
4. ask someone or take someone with you that knows this plant. My conservation department and Extension office are my go to people. Definitely a good idea if you hjave any questions or doubts.
5. And of course and plant ID book will help

I love the wild carrot, both for using and decorating with. Great info @jowitt.europe . Thanks for posting!

Torey

@jowitt.europe I have checked with my program and several sites. Daucus carota doesn't seem to have been proven. Very surprising for such a widespread plant and its historical uses for humans. I did find out a bit of info. Persons needing Daucus may lack a centre or goal. They can easily loose themselves in details without sight of the goal. They might have a lack of objectivity or clear perception. They cannot connect with people. It also says that their emotional and instinctual lives are not properly integrated. That does sound a bit like someone who has ADD or ADHD.

I have never harvested wild carrot. It grows in BC but about 3 hours south of me. I'm pretty sure I found some one day while on a bit of a holiday. But I didn't know about the red or dark spot in the middle so I wasn't quite sure of my identification. It looks so much like poisonous members of the Apiaceae family that I would be nervous about harvesting unless I had someone with me for positive identification.

Thanks for sharing this information on Wild Carrot. I can see I will be doing some more research; both on wild and domestic carrots. A friend of mine got so many seeds off her carrots this year.

jowitt.europe

@Monek Marie Thank you for the very useful advice how to identify a wild carrot. I am glad to hear that you use it. I do as well, but, so far not wild carrot roots. As @torey rightly says, the wild carrot looks similar to quite a few poisonous herbs, so one has to be 100% sure that one takes a right herb.

@torey the Swiss research is quite recent and, most probably, still not widely spread in English. But they mention the homeopathic usage which I thought to be very interesting.

judsoncarroll4

In the summer, the fields and pastures are full of them around here. I always considered wild carrot a survival food since the roots aren't really all that palatable and are usually tough. Thanks for the tip on the seeds!

Monek Marie

A younger root is more tender and if I use it I slice it in slender pieces. Its great to add to a soup or broth for the nutrients.

As @judsoncarroll4 said its more of a survival food unless you use it in a broth. Being so small it takes time to harvest much but it does have great herbal and medicinal uses.

I just love thersmell of it when you pinch the flower.

Once you get used to identifying a Wild carrot you can easily pick them out but any time I use a wild plant for the first time I make 100% sure I know what it is

Torey

@jowitt.europe I would appreciate it, if you could send me a link to the research you have into the homeopathic use of wild carrot. I would like to add it to my repertory. I can think of a couple of people this might be useful for.

jowitt.europe

@torey this is the article which I referred to. At the end there is a list of literature. Roger Kalbermatten has written many books on herbs, homeopathy, mother tinctures. I found one translated into English: “Herbal mother tinctures”, but I have not read it.

If you are interested, I could translate what the article says about homeopathic usage.

nicksamanda11

I have used wild carrot for years. It was one of the first plants i learned to identify for some reason. I harvested seeds to season soup, used the greens in my bone broth, fried the flower heads into fritters to impress friends😇, and sliced the root into soup as well.

I have not used it as medicine- so that is interesting to think about. Maybe try.

One thing i feel the need to mention is that historically the indians used the seeds as contraceptive so if someone is trying to conceive or may be pregnant they may want to research a bit about that before ingesting the seeds.

Torey

@jowitt.europe I would very much appreciate the translation. Thanks for offering.

The pic in the book makes identification quite a bit easier for me, in comparison with water hemlock and poison hemlock. The fine leaves (or maybe they are bracts) right below the seed head are quite distinctive. I hadn't noticed them before.

marjstratton

I have learned to identify wild carrots, but have never used them. Using the seeds and foliage for making my bone broth sounds like a good idea. I do use cultivated carrot green in my bone broth.