Botany
A biennial plant with a thick rootstock.
Stems are stout, erect, smooth, bright green, and very branched, 1 m or more in height.
Leaves are 2-, 3-, 4-pinnate; with fine filiform segments 2 to 4 cm long.
Flowers are yellow in terminal umbels.
Fruit consists of two joined ribbed carpels with a pleasant odor.
Seeds are dorsally compressed.

General info
Raw, has a pronounced and distinct taste close to anise or licorice. In olden times, fennel has been used both as an appetite suppressant and digestive aid, to counter witchcraft, as a culinary garnish, and varied medicinal uses.

Distribution
Nowhere spontaneous. Cultivated.

Medicinal properties
Warming, carminative, stomachic, antispasmodic, antidepressant, a weak diuretic, and a mild stimulant, galactagogue.

Constituents
Fruit-volatile oil, 2.9% - 6%, 50 to 60 percent of which is anethol; fixed oil, 8.9%; pectin, 1.3%; pentosan, 5.12%.

The oil of fennel includes 50 - 60% nethol, also the chief constituent of anise oil and 18-22 percent fenchone. (Rodale's Encyclopedia of Herbs)

Parts used and preparation
Whole plant, roots, seeds, oil of seed.

Uses:
Folkloric
Fainting: Inhale crushed fruit.
Decoction is gargled as a breath freshener or applied as an eyewash.
Decoction of seeds help regulate menses.
Poultice has been used to relieve breast swelling in nursing mothers.
Infusion of seeds used for stomatitis, abdominal cramps, colic, flatulence.
Oil of seeds used for intestinal deworming in 3-4 ml doses.
Paste of seeds or fruit used in cooling drinks for fevers.
Culinary
The fruit, seeds and young leaves are used for flavoring.
The seeds have an anise-like flavor.
Cosmetic
Infusion of ground seeds as a steam facial.
Mouthwash.
Toothpaste.
Used in skin-care products.
Anticellulite massage oil: In a dark bottle, 8 drops of fennel, 8 drops of juniper, 10 drops of grapefruit, 5 tsps of sweet almond oil and 5 drops of jojoba oil; massage to affected area daily. (Illustrated Encyclopedia of Natural Remedies: C. Norman Shealy, MD)

Availability
Wildcrafted.