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Apiaceae FAMILY

Foeniculum vulgare

Foeniculum vulgare

Edibility
5/5
Medicinal
3/5

Safety & Hazards

Skin contact with the sap or essential oil is said to cause photo-sensitivity and/or dermatitis in some people[1, 2]. Ingestion of the oil can cause vomiting, seizures and pulmonary oedema[2].

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Perennial
Growth—

Foeniculum vulgare is a plant mainly of mediterranean and warm temperate climates. It is fairly cold-hardy, known to tolerate occasional temperatures falling as low as -25°c so long as conditions are fairly dry, though it does lose its top growth in such conditions. It grows best in regions where the mean annual rainfall is within the range 500 - 2,000mm, tolerating up to 4,000mm, and the mean annual temperature is within the range 6 - 12°c, tolerating up to 24°c[3, 4]. Plants are liable to die out over the winter if the soil is not well-drained or the weather is persistently cold and wet[5]. Fennel is generally an easily grown plant, it succeeds in most soils but prefers a sunny dry position[6, 7, 8, 3]. It grows well in sandy soils[9] and is drought tolerant once established[10]. The plant thrives in non-acid, well-drained loams and tolerates a soil pH between 6.3 and 8.3[4]. Plants often self-sow freely in the garden[PFAF]. Plants can be grown in quite coarse grass, which can be cut annually in the autumn[11]. Initial development of seedlingz is slow, with a period of 8- 12 weeks from sowing to stem emergence. Flowering occurs 3 - 4 months after sowing, and the time from sowing to first seed harvest is 5 - 7 months[4]. Fennel is often grown as a herb and a vegetable, and is generally recognised as comprising three cultivar groups:- cv. group Common Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare vulgare) This is the wild form of the species. Common fennel seeds have a pungent odour and taste rather like camphor with a bitter after-taste. This form is cultivated as a culinary and medicinal herb, and also for its seeds and essential oil. cv. group Florence Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare azoricum). The basal portions of the leaf petioles are swollen to form an edible, bulb-like structure. This form is mainly grown for use as a vegetable. cv. group Sweet Fennel. (Foeniculum vulgare dulce). Sweet-fennel fruits smell strongly of anise, and have a penetrating and sweet taste. The plant is generally grown as a culinary and medicinal herb, and also for its sweeter-tasting seeds and essential oil. Especially in mild winters, the leaves can be available all year round[PFAF]. It is best to cut a few plants back to ground level occasionally during the growing season, thus ensuring a constant supply of fresh young shoots[6]. In a dry summer make sure that you water the cut-down clump or it might not regrow that year[PFAF]. Fennel is also grown commercially as a medicinal plant and for its essential oil[6, 5]. It is best not to grow fennel and dill (Anethum graveolens) close to each other since hybridisation can occur and the resulting seedlings will be of indeterminate flavour[5].

Propagation

Seed - best sown in early spring in situ[12]. Seeds normally germinate within 2 - 3 weeks after sowing[4]. The seed can also be sown in situ in the autumn[6, 8]. In many gardens it self sows freely. Division in early spring as the new growth appears[7, 3]. The plants are very tolerant of disturbance, we have found divisions to take well at any time of the year, though these divisions are never as good as seed-sown plants[PFAF]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Foeniculum+vulgare>

Pollinators

Insects

References

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  2. [2]A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. — Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. · Houghton Mifflin Co. · 1990 · ISBN 0395467225 ↩︎A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.
  3. [3]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  4. [4]Invasive Species Compendium — http://www.cabi.org ↩︎An immense resource - in depth information on over 900 species of invasive plants (it also has information on animals, fungi etc).
  5. [5]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · Dorling Kindersley, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7513-020-31 ↩︎A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
  6. [6]A Modern Herbal. — Grieve. · Penguin · 1984 · ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 ↩︎Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
  7. [7]New Vegetable Growers Handbook. — Simons. · Penguin · 1977 · ISBN 0-14-046-050-0 ↩︎A good guide to growing vegetables in temperate areas, not entirely organic.
  8. [8]The Gardener's Assistant. — Thompson. B. · Blackie and Son. · 1878 · ISBN - ↩︎Excellent general but extensive guide to gardening practices in the 19th century. A very good section on fruits and vegetables with many little known species.
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  10. [10]The Dry Garden. — Chatto. B. · Dent · 1982 · ISBN 0460045512 ↩︎A good list of drought resistant plants with details on how to grow them.
  11. [11]Perennial Garden Plants — Thomas. G. S. · J. M. Dent & Sons, London. · 1990 · ISBN 0 460 86048 8 ↩︎A concise guide to a wide range of perennials. Lots of cultivation guides, very little on plant uses.
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  13. [13]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
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  15. [15]Edible and Medicinal Plants. — Launert. E. · Hamlyn · 1981 · ISBN 0-600-37216-2 ↩︎Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.
  16. [16]The Vegetable Garden. — Vilmorin. A. · Ten Speed Press · ISBN 0-89815-041-8 ↩︎A reprint of a nineteenth century classic, giving details of vegetable varieties. Not really that informative though.
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  18. [18]Herbs — Phillips. R. & Foy. N. · Pan Books Ltd. London. · 1990 · ISBN 0-330-30725-8 ↩︎Deals with all types of herbs including medicinal, culinary, scented and dye plants. Excellent photographs with quite good information on each plant.
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  20. [20]Salads all the Year Round. — Larkcom. J. · Hamlyn · 1980 ↩︎A good and comprehensive guide to temperate salad plants, with full organic details of cultivation.
  21. [21]The Herb Book. — Lust. J. · Bantam books · 1983 · ISBN 0-553-23827-2 ↩︎Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.
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  25. [25]Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. — Chiej. R. · MacDonald · 1984 · ISBN 0-356-10541-5 ↩︎Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.
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  28. [28]Handbook of Chinese Herbs and Formulas. — Yeung. Him-Che. · Institute of Chinese Medicine, Los Angeles · 1985 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent Chinese herbal giving information on over 500 species. Rather technical and probably best suited to the more accomplished user of herbs.
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  32. [32]The National Non-Food Crops Centre Crop Database — http://www.nnfcc.co.uk/crops/pd.cfm ↩︎An excellent on-line information source, with information on over 100 species (as of 2006) of plants being investigated as bio-crops.
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  34. [34]Nature's Colors - Dyes from Plants. — Grae. I. · MacMillan Publishing Co. New York. · 1974 · ISBN 0-02-544950-8 ↩︎A very good and readable book on dyeing.
  35. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎