Plants to 120 cm. Leaves oblong, 2–3-pinnate/pinnatisect; ultimate segments linear to lanceolate, 2-15 mm long, 0.5-4 mm wide, glabrous to hispid especially on the veins and margins, acute, mucronate. Peduncles 10-55 cm, retrorsely hispid; bracts foliaceous, pinnate, rarely entire, lobes linear, 3–30 mm, margin scarious; rays 2-7.5 cm, unequal; bracteoles 5-7, linear, entire or 2-3-lobed, more or less scarious and ciliate, equaling or exceeding flowers. Petals white, sometimes yellow or pinkish. Fruit 3-4 mm long, ca. 2 mm wide.

Plants biennial, 15 cm to 1 m tall. Root a thick tap-root. Stem glabrous to pilose; hairs white. Leaves compound, 2-3-pinnate, hispid; segments linear to oval; margin deeply toothed; tips mucronate. Peduncles up to 30 cm long, his¬pid. Involucre of pinnately divided bracts, up to 5 cm long; segments filiform to linear. Rays numerous, the outer longer, incurved. Involucel of undivided or divided bractlets; margins entire or ciliate. Calyx teeth minute. Petals white to yellowish or light purple, the outer radiate; the petals of the central flower of an umbel sometimes red. Ovary hispid; styles 0.5 to 1 mm long. Fruit ovoid, 2-3 mm long; primary ridges not prominent, slightly bristly; secondary ridges winged, spiny; spines white; one vitta under each secondary ridge; commissure 2-vittate.

It is a common plant both in the hills and the plains. The carrot is cultivated throughout our area.

Plants to 120 cm. Leaves oblong, 2–3-pinnate/pinnatisect; ultimate segments linear to lanceolate, 2–15 × 0.5–4 mm, glabrous to hispid especially on the veins and margins, acute, mucronate. Peduncles 10–55 cm, retrorsely hispid; bracts foliaceous, pinnate, rarely entire, lobes linear, 3–30 mm, margin scarious; rays 2–7.5 cm, unequal; bracteoles 5–7, linear, entire or 2–3-lobed, more or less scarious and ciliate, equaling or exceeding flowers. Petals white, sometimes yellow or pinkish. Fruit 3–4 × ca. 2 mm. Fl. May–Jul.

The fruit used for medicine (“hu luo bo”) and oil.

Wild Carrot is an ubiquitous plant that most people can recognize. It is possible, however, to confuse this introduced species with other white-flowered members of the Carrot family. Wild Carrot doesn't begin blooming until mid-summer and usually occurs in mesic to dry areas, rather than wetlands. The presence of a single reddish purple flower in the middle of the compound umbel is a distinctive characteristic, although it is not always present. There is a similar native species, Daucus pusillus (Small Wild Carrot), that occurs in two counties of southern Illinois. The primary bracts of the compound flowers for this species are double pinnate, whereas the primary bracts of the introduced species are single pinnate. Wild Carrot is an important source of the natural food dye, carotene, and for this reason has commercial importance. According to most authorities, it is the source of the cultivated carrot.

This adventive biennial plant consists of a rosette of basal leaves during the first year, bolting upward during the second year to produce flowers and seeds. Mature second-year plants are about 2-3½' tall. The basal leaves are usually double pinnate with long petioles. In outline, they are up to 10" and 4" across (including the petioles), narrowing gradually toward their tips. Each compound leaf is subdivided into leaflets that are usually pinnate, while the secondary leaflets are entire, cleft, or coarsely toothed. The individual leaflets are rather narrow, providing the compound leaves with a lacy or fern-like appearance. Scattered white hairs often occur along the petioles, or along the margins and lower mid-veins of the leaflets. The round stems of bolting plants are finely ribbed and have scattered white hairs; they are hollow on the inside and branch sparingly. The compound leaves along the stems are alternate and have their petioles enclosed by sheaths. Otherwise, they are similar to the basal leaves in appearance. The flowering stalks are long and largely devoid of leaves, terminating in compound umbels of small white flowers. Each compound umbel has a whorl of green bracts at its base that are pinnatifid with linear segments. The flat-topped compound umbel is about 2-5" across and consists of about 30 umbellets. Each umbellet has a whorl of linear green bracts at its base and consists of about 30 flowers. While the flowers are blooming, their slender pedicels are often white or greenish white. Each flower consists of 5 white petals and 5 stamens, spanning about 1/8" across. However, the central flower of the central umbellet is often reddish purple. There are forms of Wild Carrot where all of the flowers are light pink, light purple, or reddish purple; the latter color is particularly rare. The blooming period occurs from mid-summer to early fall and lasts about 2 months. There is no noticeable floral scent, although the foliage has a slightly bitter carrot-like scent because of the presence of saponins and possibly other chemicals. Each flower produces a single ribbed seed that is ovate in shape. It is flat on one side, but rounded on the other, with white bristly hairs along the ribs. The color of the seeds is variable, depending on their maturity. They are initially light reddish purple, turning green and then greyish brown. As the seeds mature, the compound umbels start to close and assume a shape that is more or less spheroid. They can become detached from the flowering stalks and blow about in the wind. The root system consists of a stout taproot that is white and runs deep into the ground. This plant spreads by reseeding itself.