Witnessed by: TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani
Wild carrot (Daucus carota), of the Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) family. Biennial herb with a taproot, feathery leaves and a lacy compound umbel; native range: Europe, western Asia and North Africa; the ancestor of the cultivated carrot, now a naturalised weed worldwide. Globally recognized as garjara / grinjana in Sanskrit, gajar in Hindi, seed nan he shi (南鹤虱) in Chinese, jazar (جزر) in Arabic, and Queen Anne's lace, bird's nest in English. The part used is seed (fruit) chiefly; also root and flowering tops. Small ribbed, bristly, spicy seeds smelling aromatically of carrot; the wild root pale, tough and pungent, unlike the sweet orange garden form.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
WILD CARROT
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Wild carrot
- Scientific name
- Daucus carota L.
- Family
- Apiaceae (Umbelliferae)
Form
- Part used
- seed (fruit) chiefly; also root and flowering tops
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- bitter · pungent
- Ayurveda
- root: sweet (madhura) · seed: pungent (katu) · bitter (tikta)
- Western
- pungent · aromatic · sweet (root)
- Unani
- pungent · sweet (root)
Temperature
- TCM
- neutral
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna — the seed; the root milder)
- Western
- warm
- Unani
- hot & dry (2nd degree; the root hot & moist)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Spleen · Stomach
- Western
- kidneys · bladder · uterus · digestion
- Unani
- kidneys · bladder · uterus · stomach
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- kills and expels intestinal worms (the seed a vermifuge, similar to he shi)
- Ayurveda
- dipana (digestive), vatanulomana (moves downward wind), mutrala (diuretic), artavajanana (emmenagogue), the root balya and chakshushya (eye-nourishing)
- Western
- diuretic, carminative, emmenagogue, lithontriptic (stone-dissolving), anthelmintic; the seed an antifertility agent
- Unani
- mudirr-e-baul (diuretic), mufattit-e-hasat (stone-breaker), mudirr-e-haiz (emmenagogue), kaasir-e-riyah (carminative), muqawwi-e-bah (aphrodisiac)
Cautions
Contraindications: pregnancy (the seed is emmenagogue and traditionally antifertility); care to identify against poison hemlock before wild-gathering
Toxicity: food-safe as root; the leaf and seed sap contain furanocoumarins that can cause phytophotodermatitis (blistering on sun-exposed skin after contact)
Interactions
- Western
- photosensitising drugs: furanocoumarins add to photosensitivity, raising sunburn / dermatitis risk
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