Q is for Queen Anne’s Lace is part of the Alphabet Project, begun by edible office/Zoey Kroll. I’ve picked her challenge up and am embarking on the Alphabet Garden: the Herbal Set an A-Z compendium of medicinal herbs largely growing in the san francisco/ channel watershed/ salmon run nation (with occasional shots from maine! because it calls to me, and when it calls, i return). We’re tincturing, harvesting, planting, mapping and eating our way through the alphabet, leading up to 350.org‘s 10-10-10 global day of action. see also the larger alphabet garden set.
see also: alphabet remedies
When I was in my late teens I had older women friends who would tuck a little pile of wild carrot seeds in my hand with a wink. They were winking because this little nest of seeds makes the uterine lining all slippery, so that no egg can take hold. And because it made you extra slippery.
It’s hard to find in stores these days, and I wonder why. I used to love chewing on these seeds and giggling with my girlfriends.
I am delighted Matthhew Wood has a small section on Daucus Carota in his Book of Herbal Wisdom. The signature of this plant can in part be found in the common name of Queen Anne’s Lace, as it refers to the restrictive, somewhat queenly and chaste white collar the flower makes once it is going to seed. This collar also suggests a disconnect between mind and body; the bloom often floats high above the rest of the plant on a thin stem….
There are a few theories as to which Queen Anne the plant refers to. Probably they all have reference, but I like the Anne Boleyn theory. Wood writes:
According to this scenario, the red droplet in the center of the flower would be where they cut off her head, while the white part corresponds to the big collar they wore in England in that era. There is also the point that Anne Boleyn was executed for witchcraft (this plant is sometimes associated with that subject), though in actuality it was infertility (a major usage).
In this theory, the signature and name get all wrapped up into one: beheading & disembodiment, witchcraft, and its use as a contraceptive.
Queen Anne’s Lace (seed & blossom), tones the uterine lining and prevents heavy bleeding. Wood says it “reduces heavy flow, excessive growth of the uterine membrane and probably endometriosis.”
Many, including Susun Weed testify that this beautiful plant works as a contraceptive, but when a woman stops taking it she will find herself more fertile than before, because of its beneficial actions on the reproductive system.
The root of this plant can be used especially for the urinary tract and for kidney stones.
