Flora of New Zealand Series

fennel

Stout, aromatic, erect perennial. Stems ± solid, striate, polished, up to c. 2 m high. Basal lvs 3-5-pinnate, petiolate; ultimate segments filiform, acuminate, 3-50 mm long, not all in one plane; stem lvs similar to basal; petiole extended along whole length into a thin closely-ribbed sheath. Umbels 2-5 cm diam.; rays 4-25, usually slightly incurved at fruiting. Fls numerous, yellow, 1-2 mm diam. Fr. dark brown, 3-6 mm long, tasting of liquorice; ribs pale brown.

N.: common throughout; S.: common in Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury and N. Westland, N. and C. Otago, much less common in S. South Id and apparently absent from S. Westland and Southland; St.: Codfish Id; K.

S. and S.W. Europe 1867

Waste places, riverbeds, coastal cliffs, particularly well established within cities and along railway embankments.

FL Nov-May.

Both seeds and lvs of fennel may be used as a herb, particularly with fish; bronze forms are also grown as ornamentals. The swollen petiole bases of a selected form, Florentine fennel, are used as a vegetable.