What plant is this? There are so many of them here?

Question

This plant is all over this region (Southern Ontario). It is probably the most abundant flowering plant. Insects of all sorts just swarm these plants; bees, ants, beetles, flies, all just love them.

http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=830705&l=92b56&id=510547503

http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=830709&l=7ef25&id=510547503

Answer 1

It is called ' Candy tuft "  with scientific name -Iberis Sempervirens.

It could be some other species of Iberis as well .

Iberis is a genus of flowering plant belonging to the family Brassicaceae. It comprises herbs and subshrubs of the Old World. These species are commonly known as candytufts.

http://www.dkimages.com/discover/preview...

Answer 2

Ontario is covered with Queen Ann's lace in other words wild carrots (Daucus carota). This really is related to the domestic carrot.

http://ontariowildflowers.com/mondaygard...

http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/inde...

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crop...

http://www.superstock.com/stock-photogra...

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symb...

Answer 3

The plant shown in your photos is called Daucus carota (Queen Anne's Lace).  It is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate regions of Europe and southwest Asia; domesticated carrots are cultivars of a subspecies, Daucus carota subsp. sativus.

Daucus carota is a variable biennial plant, usually growing up to 1 m tall and flowering from June to August. The umbels are claret-coloured or pale pink before they open, then bright white and rounded when in full flower, measuring 3–7 cm wide with a festoon of bracts beneath; finally, as they turn to seed, they contract and become concave like a bird's nest. This has given the plant its British common or vernacular name, Bird's Nest. Very similar in appearance to the deadly Water Hemlock, it is distinguished by a mix of bi-pinnate and tri-pinnate leaves, fine hairs on its stems and leaves, a root that smells like carrots, and occasionally a single dark red flower in its center.

Like the cultivated carrot, the wild carrot root is edible while young, but quickly becomes too woody to consume. A teaspoon of crushed seeds has long been used as a form of natural birth control – its use for this purpose was first described by Hippocrates over 2,000 years ago. Research conducted on mice has offered a degree of confirmation for this use—it was found that wild carrot disrupts the implantation process, which reinforces its reputation as a contraceptive. Chinese studies have also indicated that the seeds block progesterone synthesis, which could explain this effect.

It is recommended that, as with all herbal remedies and wild food gathering, one should use appropriate caution. Extra caution should be used in this case, as it bears close resemblance to a dangerous species (see Water Hemlock). The leaves of the wild carrot can cause phytophotodermatitis, so caution should also be used when handling the plant.

The wild carrot, when freshly cut, will draw or change color depending on the color of the water it is in. Note that this effect is only visible on the "head" or flower of the plant. Carnation also exhibits this effect. This occurance is a popular science experiment in primary grade school.

Wild carrot was introduced and naturalised in North America, where it is often known as "Queen Anne's lace". It is so called because the flower resembles lace; the red flower in the center represents a blood droplet where Queen Anne pricked herself with a needle when she was making the lace. The function of the tiny red flower, coloured by anthocyanin, is to attract insects.

The USDA has listed it as a noxious weed, and it is considered a serious pest in pastures.

In an interesting side note, Women have used the seeds from Daucus carota commonly known as wild carrot or queen anne's lace, for centuries as a contraceptive, the earliest written reference dates back to the late 5th or 4th century B.C. appearing in a work written by Hippocrates. John Riddle writes in Eve's Herbs, that queen anne's lace (QAL) seeds are one of the more potent antifertility agents available, and a common plant in many regions of the world. "The seeds, harvested in the fall, are a strong contraceptive if taken orally immediately after coitus."

Also, in reference to Harshal's post, Candytuft is a spring/early summer blooming flower.  It is in a completely different family and does not look at all like Queen Anne's Lace. (http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http...

Answer 4

I think I know what it is - it's milfoil / yarrow/

I saw it in my grandmother's garden