Foeniculum Vulgare
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is a flowering plant in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalised in many parts of the world, especially on dry soils near the sea-coast and on riverbanks.
It is a highly aromatic and flavourful herb used in cookery and, along with the similar-tasting anise, is one of the primary ingredients of absinthe. Florence fennel or finocchio is a selection with a swollen, bulb-like stem base that is used as a vegetable.
It is erect, glaucous green, and grows to heights of up to 2.5 metres (8 ft), with hollow stems. The leaves grow up to 40 centimetres (16 in) long; they are finely dissected, with the ultimate segments filiform (threadlike), about 0.5 millimetres (1⁄50 in) wide. (Its leaves are similar to those of dill, but thinner.) The flowers are produced in terminal compound umbels 5–15 centimetres (2–6 in) wide, each umbel section having 20–50 tiny yellow flowers on short pedicels. The fruit is a dry schizocarp from 4–10 millimetres (3⁄16–3⁄8 in) long, half as wide or less, and grooved. Since the seed in the fruit is attached to the pericarp, the whole fruit is often mistakenly called "seed".