Foeniculum

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is indigenous from the Caspian Sea to the Greek peninsula and other Mediterranean countries, growing wild over a large part of Southern Europe, especially in the vicinity of the sea. It is also cultivated in favorable localities, as in Saxony, France, and Italy. Charlemagne encouraged its cultivation. Its employment in Northern Europe has been from all time, as is indicated by the fact that Anglo-Saxon domestic medical recipes dating from at least the eleventh century give it a place. The use of the seeds in domestic medication in the form of infusion as well as its employment in bread-making is too well established to need more than a mention.

The History of the Vegetable Drugs of the U.S.P., 1911, was written by John Uri Lloyd.