NameThatPlant.net: Foeniculum vulgare

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Campanulids: Apiales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Foeniculum vulgare FAMILY Apiaceae Go to FSUS key

Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.

Check out EDDMapS.org to see where this has been reported.

Read more about Fennel at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.

This is the common garden fennel, cultivated for its seeds, leaves, "bulbs" (finocchio), and ornamental appearance, widely used in Mediterranean cuisines, per Weakley's Flora (2022)

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Foeniculum vulgare FAMILY Apiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Foeniculum vulgare

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 140-12-001:

Foeniculum vulgare FAMILY Apiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Foeniculum foeniculum

COMMON NAME:
Fennel

To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_fofo_001_lhd

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Foeniculum vulgare FAMILY Apiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Foeniculum vulgare FAMILY Apiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Foeniculum vulgare

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 140-12-001:
Foeniculum vulgare FAMILY Apiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Foeniculum foeniculum

572

Forb
Biennial/Perennial

Habitat: Fields, dredge spoil, old gardens, waste places, vacant lots, roadsides, per Weakley's Flora

Non-native: Mediterranean Europe

Uncommon in Carolina Coastal Plain, rare or waifs elsewhere in GA-NC-SC

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

Invasive?

This plant may be causing problems in natural areas outside its native range, according to authorities such as:

Brooklyn Botanic Garden

LEAVES:
Complexly compound into filiform segments
Alternate

FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Yellow
Radially symmetrical
5-merous
Inferior ovary

Flowers in compound umbels

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Schizocarp of two mericarps

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!

"Despite what developers will tell you about restoration, she said, once a piece of land is graded, the biologic organisms and understructure of the soil are destroyed. 'No one knows how to easily re-create that, short of years of hand-weeding. Leaving land alone doesn't work; the natives are overwhelmed by the invaders.' Spot bulldozing is common... even on land that is supposedly protected. 'Much of this destruction is done out of expediency and ignorance.' She believed people are unlikely to value what they cannot name." — Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods, quoting biologist Elaine Brooks

If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".

Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".