Daucus pusillus

American wild carrot

Family: Apiaceae · Type: annual · Native

American wild carrot is a California native annual found in the Central Coast and Desert Mountains, particularly in coastal regions, growing in rocky or sandy places at elevations below 1,650 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces delicate white flowers in small, lacy umbrella-shaped clusters with reflexed bristles. Growing 30 to 90 centimeters tall, it develops as a generally simple or lightly branched plant with slender stems. Its finely divided leaves have multiple narrow, acute segments, each 1 to 5 millimeters long, giving the foliage a delicate, lacy appearance. The small fruit measures 3 to 5 millimeters long, typical of its wild carrot relatives.

Habitat: Rocky or sandy places

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: < 1650 m

Bioregions: CA-FP (esp coastal), DMtns

California counties: Humboldt, Santa Barbara, Fresno, San Luis Obispo, San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange, Sonoma, Riverside, Monterey, Mendocino, Kern, San Benito, San Mateo, Marin, Ventura, San Francisco, Colusa, Lake, Butte, Santa Clara, San Bernardino, Del Norte, Santa Cruz, Tulare, Sutter, Siskiyou, Napa, Mariposa, Solano, Yolo, Trinity, Tuolumne, Sacramento, Calaveras, Amador, Contra Costa, Glenn, Nevada, Merced, Tehama, Shasta, Yuba, Alameda, Madera, Stanislaus, El Dorado

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.