Foeniculum
vulgare Mill.
Standardized Common
Name: Fennel
Other Common Names: Bitter Fennel, Sweet
Fennel
Family: Apiaceae
(Umbelliferae)
Taxonomy: Foeniculum
includes about 4 species, which are native to Asia and the Mediterranean, but
have been widely spread through cultivation. Foeniculum vulgare is the
only species found wild in southern Europe; it has also been naturalized in the
United States. Numerous synonyms exist, notably F. dulce Mill., F.
officinale All., and F. piperitum (Ucria) DC. Two major cultivated
types, differing greatly in chemical composition and flavor, are known as Sweet
Fennel and Bitter Fennel. Most older taxonomic literature referred to Sweet
Fennel as F. vulgare subsp. vulgare and to Bitter Fennel as F.
vulgare subsp. piperitum (Ucria) Coutinho. However, recent
treatments apply F. vulgare subsp. vulgare var. vulgare to
cultivated Bitter Fennel. The name for the cultivated Sweet Fennel is then
given as F. vulgare subsp. vulgare var. dulce (Mill.)
Thell., and F. vulgare subsp. piperitum refers only to plants of
wild origin, which are generally bitter.
Description: Perennial or
biennial herb. Stem 1–2(–2.5) m high, much branched. Leaves basal and
alternate, with sheathing petioles, 3–4-pinnately compound; basal leaves to 30
cm long, the stem leaves smaller; lobes linear, 0.5–5 cm long, widely
separated. Inflorescences compound umbels, borne opposite leaves,
long-peduncled, with (4–)10–15(–30) primary rays, bractless; umbellets
many-flowered, without bracteoles; flowers small, yellow, without sepals. Fruit
a schizocarp of 2 mericarps, 3–10(–15) mm long, oblong; ribs straight,
prominent; vallecular vittae 1, commissural vittae 2.
Parts
in Commerce:
Fruits
Identification: See appendix for
explanation of the technical terms pertaining to umbel fruits.
- Schizocarp
usually not separating into mericarps, frequently still attached to
delicate pedicel
- Schizocarp
oblong, sometimes asymmetrical to banana-shaped when one mericarp fails to
develop
- (3–)4–10(–15) mm
long
- Light green to
straw-colored or brownish (especially in bitter fennel); valleculae darker
- Mericarps
broadest at commissure
- Ribs straight,
threadlike, prominent, in dried fruits often with two delicate grooves
- Apex with
prominent conical stylopodium, without calyx teeth
- Vittae 1 per
vallecula, 2 on commissural face, prominent, visible on fruit surface as
dark brown lines, in cross-section as brown dots
- Odor aromatic,
characteristic, similar to anise in sweet fennel
- Taste
characteristic, spicy, sweet or pungent; flavor varies greatly between
sweet and bitter varieties
Adulterants: Meum athamanticum
Jacq., an ornamental once cultivated for its edible roots, has been reported as
an adulterant. The overall shape and appearance of the fruit is similar, but
there are 3–4 vittae per vallecula and 6 on the commissural face (the latter
being more visible), in contrast to the single conspicuous vittae of fennel.
References:
Arenas Posada JA, García Martín F. Atlas carpológico
y corológico de la subfamilia Apioideae Drude (Umbelliferae) en
España peninsular y Baleares. Ruizia. 1993;12:1–245.
Tutin TG. Foeniculum. In: Tutin TG, Heywood VH, Burges NA, et al.,
eds. Flora Europaea. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press; 1968:341.
Tutin TG. Umbellifers of the British Isles.
London: Botanical Society of the British Isles; 1980. B.S.B.I. Handbook No. 2.
Wichtl M, ed. Herbal Drugs and
Phytopharmaceuticals, 3rd English
ed. Stuttgart: medpharm Scientific Publishers and Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press;
2004:212–215.
Youngken HW. Text-Book of Pharmacognosy, 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: The
Blakiston Company; 1943:624–627.
Figure 28: Foeniculum vulgare fruit.
