The roadsides are dominated at the moment by the white lacy flowers of Wild Carrot, a name that seriously underplays the beauty of the flower. Tall and elegant, waving in the lazy summer breeze, they are similar to Cow Parsley in the UK as both belong to the carrot family. 
The Wild Carrot umbrel can be up to 10cm across, each individual white or cream flower measures 3mm.
The black flower at the centre of the umbrel helps pollination: flies visit the black flower, followed by other flies, with the dark flowers acting as a fly-attractor. 
Once the flowers start to die and the seeds to form, the umbrel curls up like half-cupped palm. 
Once the seedheads are dried, they become part of the familiar golden scene throughout the Andalucía summer. 
5 to remember
el borde de la carretera – the roadside
suscitar – to attract
el encaje – the lace
elegante – elegant
la polinización – the pollination
Notes on a Spanish Valley 
Is THAT what they are, I had no idea! Can you eat the carrots…?!
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I have no idea, it didn’t occur to me to dig one up! SD
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You must have spent a great deal of time collecting all the photos to show the whole story of this flower. Such patience you have. And I wonder who else has your artist’s eye to see beauty where others might see opportunistic invaders.
I think this is Queen Anne’s Lace here in the U.S. I used to love walking in my grandparents’ backyard near the railroad tracks, collecting these flowers. My bubbie insisted they were weeds but I saw them an an entire bouquet on a stem.
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There is something old-fashioned about them, straight out of a Victorian novel! SD
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I’m besotted with these flowers – when we arrived at the end of last October, I collected bundles of the dried heads and kept them in jars. Now they are in full bloom and I’ve been doing a series of drawings of them (open and closed heads) – they also grace the bedside table of any guest that comes to stay. I’d wondered what the little black middle was – thanks for being such a mine of information!
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I love them too, but they are now past their best. Suddenly, overnight, they went from white flower mops to seedheads! SD
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