I’ve tried eating the roots of Queen Anne’s Lace. This plant is also called wild carrot and is very closely related to garden carrots, so eating the root seems obvious.  But the young flower stalk is also edible, I’d heard, so I decided to give it a try. I picked stalks with buds that hadn’t opened yet, so they were still tender.

I picked off the leaves and pulled off the hairy peel. It comes off pretty easily in strips.

I steamed the peeled stalks for about three minutes and ate them with butter and salt. They tasted carroty and sweet. I just picked a few this time as an experiment, but I’ll definitely try this again.

If you are interested in this plant, be aware that other plants of the carrot family sometimes also go by the name Queen Anne’s Lace, and some of them are poisonous. The edible wild carrot has delicate, feathery leaves and stems covered with soft white hair. Always consult an expert if you are not sure of plant identification.