Spignel.
Meum.
A wild plant not altogether unlike fennel. It grows two or three feet high. The stalks are round, striated, and branched. The leaves are large, and divided like those of fennel, but into narrower and finer parts, and they are of a very dark green colour. The flowers are little and white, but they stand in dusters at the tops of the stalks, and are conspicuous by their number. The root is long and brown, and there are always a quantity of filaments at the head of it like hairs: these are the fibres of the stalks of former leaves.
The root is used, and it is best fresh taken up. An infusion of it is excellent medicine in the gravel; it also opens obstructions, and promotes the menses. The root dried and given in powder strengthens the stomach, creates an appetite, and is good against the colic.
