Wild Carrot

The Essentials

Never forage wild carrot. It looks almost identical to poison hemlock and water hemlock, both of which can kill. Buy seed only from a reputable herbal supplier.

Traditional carminative (traditionally used to settle gas and bloating) and mild diuretic (makes you pass more urine) action.

Essential oil (carotol, α-pinene) shows mild antimicrobial (slows the growth of germs) and antifungal activity in lab.

Source of luteolin and kaempferol flavonoid (a family of protective plant compounds) antioxidants.

Wild carrot grows abundantly across the Iranian plateau and the foothills of the Alborz. Its tiny aromatic seeds are quite different from the orange root of cultivated carrot. Since antiquity, people have used the seeds as a warming aid for gas, a urinary cleanser, and a women's regulating herb. Modern lab analysis confirms they carry a rich mix of essential oils (the concentrated aromatic oil of the plant) and flavonoids (a family of protective plant compounds).

Known to botanists as Daucus carota subsp. carota.