Fennel

Parts Usually Used

Seeds, berries, fruits, roots, and stems.

Description of Plant(s) and Culture

A tall herb of the umbel family, with feathery leaves and yellow flowers. A stout, strongly scented perennial plant, with erect stems and blue-green leaves. The striated stems are solid when young, becoming hollow with age. The yellow flowers grow in compound, terminal umbels, each with 10-30 stalks. Aniseed-scented, egg-shaped fruits follow the flowers. Its light green, feathery foliage and aromatic seeds are used to flavor foods and medicines.

Stems reach 4-6 feet and flowers appear July to October. Needs full sun; partial shade in warm climates. Zones 6-9. Seeds can be planted in autumn to ensure early germination in the spring, otherwise plant seeds in spring in rich, well-drained soil but not clay. Sow lightly in a bed or in drills six inches apart. Keep the bed moist for 2 weeks or until leaves appear. Germination takes place within 2 weeks.

Thin to 6 inches apart. Do not overwater after that. Do not plant fennel near dill, coriander, bush beans, or tomatoes. Although it has never been proven, fennel is said to have a damaging effect on bush beans, caraway, tomatoes, and kohlrabi, and is harmed by coriander and wormwood. Plant away from garden; most plants dislike fennel. Collect seeds in summer and let the plant die back naturally in winter.

Harvest seeds when mature and brown, but before they drop; check for aphids. Morning hours for harvest are best to avoid unnecessary seed losses. Varieties of fennel: F. vulgare Rubrum (bronze fennel) has beautiful, dark reddish bronze foliage. It makes a striking accent in gardens. F. vulgare azoricum (Florence fennel or finacchio; sometimes listed as var. dulce, incorrectly called sweet anise, and sold as anise in supermarkets) has thickened leaf bases that form a bulbous base called the bulb, which is eaten raw or cooked.

Finocchio grows like a stalk of celery and is eaten raw or boiled as a vegetable. Florence fennel needs cool weather to develop its bulb, so sow seeds in midsummer for a fall harvest. Plants grown from a spring sowing may bolt in warm summer weather before forming the bulb. Plants benefit from frequent fertilization and watering. Cut off flower heads to encourage development of a thicker base.

Once the bulb is about egg size, it can be hilled up with soil to blanch. It will be ready to harvest in a few weeks.

Where Found

Found growing as a weed in waste places in much of the United States, in southeastern Canada and in southern British Columbia. Also cultivated for commercial demands in the warmer parts of Europe and in many parts of Africa, Asia, and North and South America. Native to Mediterranean Europe where it is found growing wild.

Medicinal Properties

Stomachic, antiviral, carminative (relieves gas), pectoral (relieves chest congestion and cough), diuretic, aromatic, antispasmodic, expectorant, mild expectorant, anti-inflammatory, stimulan

Biochemical Information

Anethole, calcium, camphene, cymene, chlorine, dipentene, fenchone, 7-hydrozycoumaarin, volatile oils, oleic acid, petroselinic acid, phellandrene, pinene, limonene, stigmasterol, sulfur, and vitamins A and C.

Legends, Myths and Stories

Fennel is one of nine Anglo-Saxon herbs known for secret powers. In ancient days, a bunch of fennel hung over a cottage door on Midsummer’s Eve was said to prevent the effects of witchcraft. Today, if witches are not a problem, try nibbling on the herb’s seeds, as Roman women did centuries ago, to help depress the appetite. Women in Roman times believed fennel prevented obesity.

The ancients believed eating the fennel herb and seeds imparted courage, strength, and conveyed longevity. In Imperial Roman times the physicians were in high regard of fennel for medicinal purposes. The ancient Greeks and Anglo-Saxons snitched on their fast days by nibbling a little fennel, which reduced the appetite. The ancients believed that myopic reptiles ate fennel to improve their vision and so used it themselves for this purpose.

It is still prescribed as an eye-wash. Also, for failing eyesight, a tea was made from fennel leaves to be used as a compress on swollen eyes. Fennel is considered one of the oldest medicinal plants and culinary herbs. It is fairly certain that fennel was in use over 4000 years ago. It is mentioned in the famous Ebers Papyrus, an ancient Egyptian collection of medical writings made around 1500 BC.

There it is referred to principally as a remedy for flatulence. Later authors of herbals, such as Pliny (AD 23-79), also describe fennel primarily as an aid to digestion. In the Middle Ages, it was praised for coughs. Fennel was well known to the ancient Chinese, Hindus, and Egyptians as a harmless medicine and spice. Italians are fond of the seeds as seasoning. A warm tea of the seeds, slightly sweetened with honey, is a useful carminative for restless babies.

A stronger tea, or the oil on a lump of sugar, is soothing for older children or adults. The seed or the oil is combined with other flavors in the making of liqueurs. Fennel is the principle ingredient of a cordial known as Fenouillette. ” A sprig of fennel was the theological smelling bottle of the tender sex, not infrequently of the men, who found themselves too strongly tempted to take a nap, would sometimes borrow a sprig of fennel.

Uses

Historically, fennel was regarded as a versatile household remedy and culinary herb, valued for its licorice-like flavor resembling anise. Herbal traditions recommended fennel preparations, often as teas or ground seed, for digestive complaints including gas, acid dyspepsia, cramps, and colic. It was also employed in traditional medicine for cystitis, gout, spasms, jaundice, backaches, toothaches, hiccoughs, and food poisoning, as well as an aid to promote lactation, stimulate appetite, and encourage urine and menstrual flow.

Folk practitioners administered seed infusions for snake and insect bites, dog bites, and fever, or utilized the herb as a blood purifier and appetite suppressant for obesity. Externally, fennel tea was historically used as an eye wash, while the essential oil was applied to joints for pain and rheumatism, or added to gargles for coughs, hoarseness, and sore throats. The shoots were traditionally consumed raw or brewed as a tisane for their perceived laxative properties.

In Mediterranean folk traditions, dressed fennel stalks known as cartucci were consumed to encourage calm and sleep. Beyond medicinal uses, fennel held a broad culinary and domestic role. The leaves were cooked in sauces for fish, chicken, and egg dishes, or mixed into salads to temper the richness of oily fish. The seeds were widely used, both whole and ground, to flavor breads, pastries, curries, sausages, soups, stews, and pickles, while sugar-coated seeds became traditional post-meal digestifs in Indian cuisine.

Industrially, the plant yielded yellow or brown dyes for wool, and the extracted oil was incorporated into perfumes, soaps, and liquors.

How Sold

Capsules or powder form.

Bibliography

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