Foeniculum vulgare Mill.
Fennel, sweet fennel
Fennel is native to northern Africa, Asia and Europe, and long naturalized in North America, where it is common to invasive.
Plants: 4–6½ ⨉ 1½–3′ (1.2–2 m ⨉ 45–91 cm). Stems are hairless and slippery.
Leaves: Leaves are fine and threadlike, branched extensively, and hairless. They are up to 1′ (40 cm) long and half a millimeter wide.
Flowers: Large yellow umbels up to 6″ (15 cm), on haphazardly spaced rays. Flowers appear from June to July.
Fruits: Brownish or greenish gray, roughly cylindrical, strongly ribbed, 1/16–3/16 ⨉ 1/32–1/16″ (3–5 ⨉ 1.5–2 mm). Seeds ripen from September to October.
Habitats: Grasslands, coastal scrub, along riverbanks, and in wetlands.
Edibility: Wild fennel doesn’t produce a bulb like its cultivated derivatives, but the greens and seeds have the same licorice flavor. Young fronds are boiled for ten minutes, drained, and use whole or minced. They are mixed with other greens, used as a flavorant to pasta or soups. The seeds are used to flavor some sausages.
Medical: According to the Physician’s Desk Referrence for Herbal Medicines, fennel is “approved by Commission E for:
- cough
- bronchitis
- dyspeptic complaints
Peptic discomforts, such as mild, spastic disorders of the gastrointenstinal tract, feeling of fullness, flatulence; catarrh of the upper respiratory tract.”
There are a number of other unproven uses.
Online References:
References:
Foeniculum foeniculum (L.) Karst.， nom. inval.
6/12/2007 · Near Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito, California 
6/12/2007 · Near Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito, California 
6/12/2007 · Near Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito, California 
6/12/2007 · Sausalito, California 
6/12/2007 · Near Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito, California 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Asteridae | A large class that encompasses asters |
| Order | Apiales | Includes carrots, celery, parsley, and ivy |
| Family | Apiaceae | Carrot or parsley family, also includes angelica, anise, caraway, celery, chervil, cicely, coriander/cilantro, cumin, dill, fennel, hemlock, lovage, Queen Anne’s Lace, parsnip |
| Genus | Foeniculum | A diminutive of the Latin word foenum, “hay,” because of the smell |
| Species | vulgare | Latin for “common” |
Foeniculum vulgare description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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