A Lacy Weed Fit for a Queen

Queen Anne’s lace is a familiar sight in fields, ditches, and open areas. Growing one to four feet tall, it has feathery leaves and wide, flat umbrella-shaped clusters of tiny white flowers. Blooming from May to October, most flower heads have a dark reddish-purple floret at the center. This plant’s common name comes from the story that Queen Anne of England (1665-1714) pricked her finger while sewing and a drop of blood landed in the center of her white lace. Queen Anne’s lace (Daucus carota) is also known as bird’s nest weed and wild carrot. Because of its deep root, the plant is difficult to remove and farmers nicknamed it devil’s plague.

Be careful not to confuse Queen Anne’s lace with the poisonous water hemlock (Cicuta maculata) and fool’s parsley (Aethusa cynapium). Because the reddish floret in the center of the flower head isn’t always present, the hairy stems of Queen Anne’s lace is a more certain way to distinguish it. Water hemlock and fool’s parsley have hairless stems

After Queen Anne’s lace sets seed, the flower head curls up and inward forming a cup that resembles a bird’s nest. The root, which is much smaller than today’s cultivated carrot, was a common food for the ancient Greeks and Romans. They also used the plant for medicinal purposes. During the sixteenth century, the plant was introduced into Great Britain where the flowers and leaves became a trendy hair accessory. It was commonly believed that the boiled flowers could be used for a love potion.

To use Queen Anne’s lace magically, make an infusion of leaves and add it to a purification bath before performing spells for love or healing. Use a few flower heads to decorate your altar for attraction spells as well as esbat rituals. The “bird’s nest” seed head can be used in spells to increase fertility. Wrap a dried root in lace and put it under your pillow to enhance dream work or to encourage prophetic dreams. Please a few leaves wherever you need to clear negative energy.

If you would like to read more about plants and magic, check out my books The Witches’ Encyclopedia of Magical Plants and Plant Magic. You may also like Poisonous Plants and Fatal Fungi.