Fennel

Foeniculum vulgare is a perennial herb. The stem is hollow, erect, and glaucous green, and it can grow up to {{convert|2.1|m|ft|0|abbr=off}} tall. The leaves grow up to {{convert|40|cm|abbr=off}} long; they are finely dissected, with the ultimate segments filiform (threadlike), about {{convert|0.5|mm|in|frac=64}} wide. Its leaves are similar to those of dill, but thinner.{{Cite book |last=Spellenberg |first=Richard |url=https://archive.org/details/nationalaudubons00spel/page/339/ |title=National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Western Region |publisher=Knopf |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-375-40233-3 |edition=rev |pages=339–340 |orig-date=1979}}

The flowers are produced in terminal compound umbels {{convert|5–17.5|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} wide, each umbel section having 20–50 tiny yellow flowers on short pedicels. The fruit is a dry schizocarp from {{convert|4–10|mm|in|abbr=on|frac=16}} long, half as wide or less, and grooved.Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). Flora of Britain and Northern Europe. {{ISBN|0-340-40170-2}} Since the seed in the fruit is attached to the pericarp, the whole fruit is often mistakenly called "seed".{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}

{{gallery

|Fenouil.jpg|Florence fennel bulbs

|Fennel flower heads.jpg|Flower heads

|Foeniculum vulgare - Flickr - Kevin Thiele.jpg|Umbel

|Fennel seed.jpg|Fruits

|Foeniculum vulgare - Köhler–s Medizinal-Pflanzen-148.jpg|In Köhler's Medicinal Plants (1887)

}}

The aromatic character of fennel fruits derives from volatile oils imparting mixed aromas, including trans-anethole and estragole (resembling liquorice), fenchone (mint and camphor), limonene,{{Cite journal |last1=Badgujar |first1=Shamkant B. |last2=Patel |first2=Vainav V. |last3=Bandivdekar |first3=Atmaram H. |date=2014 |title=Foeniculum vulgare Mill: A Review of Its Botany, Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, Contemporary Application, and Toxicology |journal=BioMed Research International |language=en |volume=2014 |page=842674 |doi=10.1155/2014/842674 |issn=2314-6133 |pmc=4137549 |pmid=25162032 |doi-access=free}} 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom).{{cite journal |last1=Díaz-Maroto |first1=M. C |last2=Díaz-Maroto Hidalgo |first2=I. J |last3=Sánchez-Palomo |first3=E |last4=Pérez-Coello |first4=M. S |year=2005 |title=Volatile components and key odorants of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) oil extracts obtained by simultaneous distillation-extraction and supercritical fluid extraction |journal=Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry |volume=53 |issue=13 |pages=5385–9 |doi=10.1021/jf050340+ |pmid=15969523}} Other phytochemicals found in fennel fruits include polyphenols, such as rosmarinic acid and luteolin, among others in minor content.{{cite journal |last1=Uusitalo |first1=L |last2=Salmenhaara |first2=M |last3=Isoniemi |first3=M |last4=Garcia-Alvarez |first4=A |last5=Serra-Majem |first5=L |last6=Ribas-Barba |first6=L |last7=Finglas |first7=P |last8=Plumb |first8=J |last9=Tuominen |first9=P |last10=Savela |first10=K |year=2016 |title=Intake of selected bioactive compounds from plant food supplements containing fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) among Finnish consumers |journal=Food Chemistry |volume=194 |pages=619–25 |doi=10.1016/j.foodchem.2015.08.057 |pmid=26471600}}

{{Unreferenced|section|date=April 2024}}

Some plants in the Apiaceae family are poisonous and often difficult to identify.

Dill, coriander, ajwain, and caraway are similar-looking herbs but shorter-growing than fennel, reaching only {{convert|40|-|60|cm|in|abbr=on}}. Dill has thread-like, feathery leaves and yellow flowers; coriander and caraway have white flowers and finely divided leaves (though not as fine as dill or fennel) and are also shorter-lived (being annual or biennial plants). The superficial similarity in appearance between these seeds may have led to a sharing of names and etymology, as in the case of meridian fennel, a term for caraway.

Giant fennel (Ferula communis) is a large, coarse plant with a pungent aroma, which grows wild in the Mediterranean region and is only occasionally grown in gardens elsewhere. Other species of the genus Ferula are also called giant fennel, but they are not culinary herbs.

In North America, fennel may be found growing in the same habitat and alongside natives osha (Ligusticum porteri) and Lomatium species, useful medicinal relatives in the parsley family.

Most Lomatium species have yellow flowers like fennel, but some{{which|reason=which species can be confused with hemlock?|date=May 2014}} are white-flowered and resemble poison hemlock. Lomatium is an important historical food plant of Native Americans known as 'biscuit root'. Most Lomatium spp. have finely divided, hairlike leaves; their roots have a delicate rice-like odor, unlike the musty odor of hemlock. Lomatium species prefer dry, rocky soils devoid of organic material.

Fennel came into Old English from Old French fenoil which in turn came from Latin {{lang|la|faeniculum}}, a diminutive of {{lang|la|faenum}}, meaning "hay".

File:Fenouil 01.JPG

Fennel is widely cultivated, both in its native range and elsewhere, for its edible, strongly flavored leaves and fruits. Its aniseed or liquorice flavor{{cite book |last1=Nyerges |first1=Christopher |title=Foraging Wild Edible Plants of North America: More than 150 Delicious Recipes Using Nature's Edibles |date=2016 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4930-1499-6 |page=77 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RwDHCgAAQBAJ}} comes from anethole, an aromatic compound also found in anise and star anise, and its taste and aroma are similar to theirs, though usually not as strong.Katzer's Spice Pages: [http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/Foen_vul.html Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200515131800/http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/Foen_vul.html |date=15 May 2020 }}

Florence fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Azoricum Group; syn. F. vulgare var. azoricum) is a cultivar group with inflated leaf bases which form a bulb-like structure. It is of cultivated origin,{{GRIN | access-date = 2017-12-10}} and has a mild anise-like flavor but is sweeter and more aromatic. Florence fennel plants are smaller than the wild type.{{cite web | title=Green Fennel Seeds | url=http://regencyspices.hk/green-fennel-seeds | website=Regencyspices.hk | access-date=2014-06-24 | archive-date=14 July 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714124111/http://regencyspices.hk/green-fennel-seeds | url-status=dead }} Several cultivars of Florence fennel are also known by several other names, notably the Italian name finocchio. In North American supermarkets, it is often mislabeled as "anise."{{cite book |last=Rombauer |first=Irma |title=Joy of Cooking |year=1997 |publisher=Simon & Schuster Inc. |location=New York |isbn=978-0-684-81870-2 |page=375}}{{cite book |last=Ziedrich |first=Linda |title=The Joy of Pickling }}

Foeniculum vulgare 'Purpureum' or 'Nigra', "bronze-leaved" fennel, is widely available as a decorative garden plant.RHS Plant Finder 2008–2009, Dorling Kindersley, 2008, p280

Fennel has become naturalized along roadsides, in pastures, and in other open sites in many regions, including northern Europe, the United States, southern Canada, and much of Asia and Australia. It propagates well by both root crown and seed and is considered an invasive species and a weed in Australia{{Cite web|url=https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://id.biodiversity.org.au/node/apni/2913766|title=Species: Foeniculum vulgare (Aniseed)|website=Bie.ala.org.au|access-date=1 March 2022|archive-date=1 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301172938/https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://id.biodiversity.org.au/node/apni/2913766|url-status=live}} and the United States. It can drastically alter the composition and structure of many plant communities, including grasslands, coastal scrub, riparian, and wetland communities. It appears to do this by outcompeting native species for light, nutrients, and water and perhaps by exuding allelopathic substances that inhibit the growth of other plants.{{Cite web |date=2017-10-16 |title=IPCW Plant Report |url=https://www.cal-ipc.org/resources/library/publications/ipcw/report51/ |access-date=2022-04-23 |website=California Invasive Plant Council |language=en-US |archive-date=10 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510183302/https://www.cal-ipc.org/resources/library/publications/ipcw/report51/ |url-status=live }} In western North America, fennel can be found from the coastal and inland wildland-urban interface east into hill and mountain areas, excluding desert habitats.{{Cite web|url=http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Foeniculum%20vulgare.png|title=Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map|website=Bonap.net|access-date=1 March 2022|archive-date=16 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150616130915/http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Foeniculum%20vulgare.png|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.calflora.org/app/taxon?crn=3603|title=Foeniculum vulgare Calflora|website=Calflora.org|access-date=1 March 2022|archive-date=1 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301172929/https://www.calflora.org/app/taxon?crn=3603|url-status=live}} On Santa Cruz Island, California for example, fennel has achieved 50 to 90% absolute cover.

As grouped by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, production data for fennel are combined with similar spices – anise, star anise, and coriander. In 2014, India produced 60% of the world output of fennel, with China and Bulgaria as leading secondary producers.

Fennel was prized by the ancient Greeks and Romans, who used it as medicine, food, and insect repellent. Fennel tea was believed to give courage to warriors before battle. According to Greek mythology, Prometheus used a giant stalk of fennel to carry fire from Mount Olympus to Earth. Emperor Charlemagne required the cultivation of fennel on all imperial farms.{{cite web|url=https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1267&context=extension_curall|title=Fennel in the Garden|author1=Ken Adams|author2=Dan Drost|website=Digitalcommons.usu.edu|access-date=2022-03-01|archive-date=2 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402184253/https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1267&context=extension_curall|url-status=live}}

Florence fennel is one of the three main herbs used in the preparation of absinthe, an alcoholic mixture which originated as a medicinal elixir in Europe and became, by the late 19th century, a popular alcoholic drink in France and other countries.{{cite web|title=Fennel (Marathos)|website=Polisherbgarden.com|url=http://www.polisherbgarden.com/menu-type/fennel-marathos/|access-date=2022-02-24|language=en-US|archive-date=24 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220224063513/http://www.polisherbgarden.com/menu-type/fennel-marathos/|url-status=live}} Fennel fruit is a common and traditional spice in flavored Scandinavian brännvin (a loosely defined group of distilled spirits, which include akvavit).{{cite web|url=https://www.diffordsguide.com/beer-wine-spirits/2755/aalborg-taffel-akvavit|title=Aalborg Taffel Akvavit|website=Diffordsguide.com|access-date=8 November 2017|archive-date=8 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108205852/https://www.diffordsguide.com/beer-wine-spirits/2755/aalborg-taffel-akvavit|url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/drinks/aquavit-this-winters-coolest-drink/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/drinks/aquavit-this-winters-coolest-drink/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Aquavit: this winter's hottest spirit |date=8 November 2016 |access-date=8 November 2017 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph}}{{cbignore}} Fennel is also featured in the Chinese Materia Medica for its medicinal functions.{{cite web|date=2021-02-26|title=Making Chinese Medicine Series 03: Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)|url=https://purplecloudinstitute.com/making-chinese-medicine-series-03-fennel-foeniculum-vulgare/|access-date=2021-02-27|website=Purplecloudinstitute.com|language=en-AU|archive-date=8 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308215640/https://purplecloudinstitute.com/making-chinese-medicine-series-03-fennel-foeniculum-vulgare/|url-status=live}}

A 2016 study found F. vulgare essential oil to have insecticidal properties.{{cite journal |last1=Ribeiro-Santos |first1=Regiane |last2=Andrade |first2=Mariana |last3=Sanches-Silva |first3=Ana |last4=de Melo |first4=Nathália Ramos |date=2017 |title=Essential Oils for Food Application: Natural Substances with Established Biological Activities |journal=Food and Bioprocess Technology |publisher=Springer Science+Business Media |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=43–71 |doi=10.1007/s11947-017-1948-6 |issn=1935-5130 |s2cid=103935770}}

{{nutritional value

| name = Fennel seeds

| kJ = 1443

| water = 8.8 g

| protein = 15.8 g

| fat = 14.9 g

| satfat = 0.5 g

| monofat = 9.9 g

| polyfat = 1.7 g

| carbs = 52 g

| fiber = 40 g

| calcium_mg = 1196

| iron_mg = 18.5

| magnesium_mg = 385

| phosphorus_mg = 487

| potassium_mg = 1694

| sodium_mg = 88

| zinc_mg = 4

| manganese_mg = 6.5

| vitC_mg = 21

| thiamin_mg = 0.41

| riboflavin_mg = 0.35

| niacin_mg = 6.1

| vitB6_mg = 0.47

| note = [https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/171323/nutrients Link to Full USDA Database entry]

}}

A raw fennel bulb is 90% water, 1% protein, 7% carbohydrates, and contains negligible fat.{{cite web |title=Fennel bulb, raw per 100 g |publisher=FoodData Central, US Department of Agriculture |date=30 October 2020 |url=https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/169385/nutrients |access-date=10 April 2024 |archive-date=25 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191025172925/https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/169385/nutrients |url-status=dead }}

Dried fennel seeds are typically used as a spice in minute quantities. A reference amount of {{convert|100|g}} of fennel seeds provides {{convert|345|kcal|kJ|order=flip|abbr=off}} of food energy and is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of protein, dietary fiber, B vitamins and several dietary minerals, especially calcium, iron, magnesium and manganese, all of which exceed 90% DV. Fennel seeds are 52% carbohydrates (including 40% dietary fiber), 15% fat, 16% protein, and 9% water.

{{Cookbook|Fennel}}

The bulb, foliage, and fruits of the fennel plant are used in many of the culinary traditions of the world. The small flowers of wild fennel (known as fennel "pollen"){{cite web |url=http://kandarian-organic-farms.highwire.com/product/organic-fennel-pollen |title=gourmet-organic-fennel-pollen |work=kandarian-organic-farms |access-date=29 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906201935/http://kandarian-organic-farms.highwire.com/product/organic-fennel-pollen |archive-date=6 September 2015 |url-status=dead }} are the most potent form of fennel, but also the most expensive.{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304692804577285582237631376 |title=Fennel Pollen: Culinary Fairy Dust |date=23 March 2012 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=7 March 2017 |archive-date=1 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150301190008/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304692804577285582237631376 |url-status=live }} Dried fennel fruit is an aromatic, anise-flavored spice, brown or green when fresh, slowly turning a dull grey as the fruit ages. For cooking, green fruits are optimal. The leaves are delicately flavored and similar in shape to dill. The bulb is a crisp vegetable that can be sautéed, stewed, braised, grilled, or eaten raw. Tender young leaves are used for garnishes, as a salad, to add flavor to salads, to flavor sauces to be served with puddings, and in soups and fish sauce.{{cite book |title=Culinary Herbs: Their Cultivation Harvesting Curing and Uses |year=1912 |publisher=Orange Judd Company |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21414/21414-h/21414-h.htm#Page_90 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413010101/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21414/21414-h/21414-h.htm#Page_90 |author=M. G. Kains |editor=American Agriculturist |archive-date=13 April 2017 |url-status=dead |format=English }} Both the inflated leaf bases and the tender young shoots can be eaten like celery.

Fennel fruits are sometimes confused with those of anise, which are similar in taste and appearance, though smaller. Fennel is also a flavoring in some natural toothpastes. The fruits are used in cookery and sweet desserts.

Many cultures in India, Afghanistan, Iran, and the Middle East use fennel fruits in cooking. In Iraq, fennel seeds are used as an ingredient in nigella-flavored breads. It is one of the most important spices in Kashmiri cuisine and Gujarati cooking.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tarladalal.com/glossary-fennel-seeds-saunf-sauf-410i|title=What is Fennel Seeds, Saunf? Glossary | Uses, Benefits, Recipes|website=Tarladalal.com|access-date=1 March 2022|archive-date=1 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301173004/https://www.tarladalal.com/glossary-fennel-seeds-saunf-sauf-410i|url-status=live}} In Indian cuisine, whole fennel seeds and fennel powder are used as a spice in various sweet and savory dishes. It is an essential ingredient in the Assamese/Bengali/Oriya spice mixture panch phoron{{cite news |url= http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-05-10/recipes/31312472_1_paanch-mustard-seed-spices|archive-url= https://archive.today/20120708135525/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-05-10/recipes/31312472_1_paanch-mustard-seed-spices|url-status= dead|archive-date= 8 July 2012|title=The power of five seeds |author=Deepika Sahu |work= The Times of India|date=10 May 2012 }} and in Chinese five-spice powders. In many parts of India, roasted fennel fruits are consumed as mukhwas, an after-meal digestive and breath freshener (saunf), or candied as comfit. Fennel seeds are also often used as an ingredient in paan, a breath freshener most popularly consumed in India.{{Cite book|last=Lakshmi|first=Padma|title=The Encyclopedia of Spices and Herbs: An Essential Guide to the Flavors of the World|publisher=HarperCollins|year=2016|isbn=978-0-06-237523-0|page=220}} In China, fennel stem and leaves are often ingredients in the stuffings of jiaozi, baozi, or pies, as well in cold dishes as a green vegetable. Fennel fruits are present in well-known mixed spices such as the five-spice powder or {{Interlanguage link|thirteen-spice powder|lt=thirteen-spice powder|zh|十三香}}.

Fennel leaves are used in some parts of India as leafy green vegetables either by themselves or mixed with other vegetables, cooked to be served and consumed as part of a meal. In Syria and Lebanon, the young leaves are used to make a special kind of egg omelette (along with onions and flour) called {{lang|ar-Latn|ijjeh}}.

Many egg, fish, and other dishes employ fresh or dried fennel leaves. Florence fennel is a key ingredient in some Italian salads, or it can be braised and served as a warm side dish. It may be blanched or marinated, or cooked in risotto.

Fennel fruits are the primary flavor component in Italian sausage. In Spain, the stems of the fennel plant are used in the preparation of pickled eggplants, {{lang|es|berenjenas de Almagro}}. A herbal tea or tisane can also be made from fennel.

On account of its aromatic properties, fennel fruit forms one of the ingredients of the well-known compound liquorice powder. In the Indian subcontinent, fennel fruits are eaten raw, sometimes with a sweetener.

{{gallery|mode=packed

|Saunf sweets.JPG|Sugar-coated and uncoated fennel fruits used as a breath freshener

|Fennel seeds and rock sugar, Indian aftermint.jpg|Indian mukhwas (breath freshener) made of fennel seeds and rock sugar

|Fenouil cuisiné avec du cabillaud à la crème d'aneth.JPG|French cooked fennel stuffed with cod and dill cream

|Fennel pie at Huatian Eryouju, Maliandao (20220214134542).jpg|Chinese bing with fennel filling

}}

The Greek name for fennel is marathon ({{lang|grc|μάραθον}}) or marathos ({{lang|grc|μάραθος}}),{{LSJ|ma/raqon|μάραθον|ref}}. and the place of the famous battle of Marathon literally means a plain with fennel.{{LSJ|*maraqw/n|Μαραθών|shortref}}. The word is first attested in Mycenaean Linear B form as {{lang|gmy|ma-ra-tu-wo}}.On tablets MY Ge 602, MY Ge 606 + fr., MY Ge 605 + 607 + frr. + 60Sa + 605b. {{cite web |title=The Linear B word transliterated as ma-ra-tu-wo |url=http://www.palaeolexicon.com/ShowWord.aspx?Id=16801 |publisher=Palaeolexicon. Word study tool of Ancient languages |access-date=19 March 2014 |archive-date=7 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307162420/http://palaeolexicon.com/showword.aspx?id=16801 |url-status=live }} {{cite web |last=Raymoure |first=K.A. |title=ma-ra-tu-wo |url=http://minoan.deaditerranean.com/resources/linear-b-sign-groups/ma/ma-ra-tu-wo/ |work=Minoan Linear A & Mycenaean Linear B |publisher=Deaditerranean |access-date=19 March 2014 |archive-date=5 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705082730/http://minoan.deaditerranean.com/resources/linear-b-sign-groups/ma/ma-ra-tu-wo/ |url-status=dead }} {{cite web |title=MY 602 Ge (57) |url=https://www2.hf.uio.no/damos/Index/item/chosen_item_id/5572 |access-date=19 March 2014 |archive-date=25 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140725030452/https://www2.hf.uio.no/damos/Index/item/chosen_item_id/5572 |url-status=live }} {{cite web |title=MY 606 Ge + fr. (57) |url=https://www2.hf.uio.no/damos/Index/item/chosen_item_id/5576 |access-date=19 March 2014 |archive-date=29 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629040154/https://www2.hf.uio.no/damos/Index/item/chosen_item_id/5576 |url-status=live }} {{cite web |title=MY 605 Ge + 607 + fr. [+] 60Sa + fr. [+] 605b + frr. (57) |url=https://www2.hf.uio.no/damos/Index/item/chosen_item_id/5575 |website=DĀMOS: Database of Mycenaean at Oslo |publisher=University of Oslo |access-date=19 March 2014 |archive-date=25 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140725014908/https://www2.hf.uio.no/damos/Index/item/chosen_item_id/5575 |url-status=live }} In Hesiod's Theogony, Prometheus steals the ember of fire from the gods in a hollow fennel stalk.{{cite web |last1=Hesiod |title=Hesiod, The Homeric Hymns, and Homerica |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/348/348-h/348-h.htm |access-date=18 August 2019 |website=Project Gutenberg |archive-date=7 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107201406/https://www.gutenberg.org/files/348/348-h/348-h.htm |url-status=live }}

As Old English {{lang|ang|finule}}, fennel is one of the nine plants invoked in the pagan Anglo-Saxon Nine Herbs Charm, recorded in the 10th century.{{cite web |title=Old English Plant Names |url=http://oldenglish-plantnames.org/lemma/full_lemma/427 |access-date=2013-01-16 |archive-date=22 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140422183400/http://oldenglish-plantnames.org/lemma/full_lemma/427 |url-status=live }}

In the 15th century, Portuguese settlers on Madeira noticed the abundance of wild fennel and used the Portuguese word funcho (fennel) and the suffix {{lang|pt|-al}} to form the name of a new town, Funchal.{{citation |author1=Frutuoso, G. |title=As Saudades da terra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KIsDAAAAYAAJ |page=39 |year=1873 |publisher=Typ. funchalense |language=pt |author2=de Azevedo, A.R.}}

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1842 poem [http://www.hwlongfellow.org/poems_poem.php?pid=75 "The Goblet of Life"] repeatedly refers to the plant and mentions its purported ability to strengthen eyesight:

Above the lower plants, it towers,

The Fennel with its yellow flowers;

And in an earlier age than ours

Was gifted with the wondrous powers

Lost vision to restore.

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{{Commons|2=Foeniculum vulgare}}

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Category:Absinthe

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