Common Fennel

Family Umbelliferae. Common names: apothecary dill. Parts used: ripe fruits, very rarely the root. Official pharmaceutical names: fennel fruits - Foeniculi fructus (formerly: Fructus Foeniculi), fennel oil - Foeniculi aetheroleum (formerly: Oleum Foeniculi), fennel root - Foeniculi radix (formerly: Radix Foeniculi). Botanical description. This is an annual or perennial plant that anchors in the soil with a fleshy root and reaches a height of 1–2 m. The round, finely grooved stem with a bluish bloom is abundantly branched in the upper part and bears repeatedly pinnately divided leaves. The leaf segments are narrow. The middle and upper leaves have a large sheath. The yellow flowers are gathered in small umbels, the umbels in larger compound umbels without involucres. Flowers from July to September.

Fennel fruits are a component of numerous tea blends for coughs, diseases of the stomach, intestines, liver and biliary tract, and also for spring and autumn treatment courses. Fennel essential oil is added to cough syrups, to so‑called carminative syrups and to fennel honey.

Use as a spice is the same as described in detail for anise. Fennel is used as an additive in baking bread and other bakery products, in preserving fruits and in salads. It should also be noted that there is a variety of fennel that is very popular as a vegetable.

Use in homeopathy. The homeopathic preparation Foeniculum is known as a good remedy for loss of appetite, bloating, cough and asthma. In addition, Foeniculum is used to stimulate lactation and as a remedy to improve vision. D1 and D2 are the most accepted dilutions. Dosage: several times a day 5–10 drops.

Use in folk medicine. The court physician of Ferdinand I, P.A. Mattioli, published in 1563 in Prague the treatise "The Power and Action of Fennel," in which he reports on the medicinal properties of this plant, which still find recognition in folk medicine, and partly in homeopathy and scientific medicine. In modern terms this reads approximately as follows: fennel helps with indigestion, bloating, loss of appetite, mucous phlegm, painful menstruation, eye inflammation, diseases of the biliary tract and liver, insufficient lactation, nervous restlessness, abscesses and inflammation of the mammary glands. Sebastian Kneipp praised the action of fennel tea especially for coughs, lung diseases and as an antispasmodic in whooping cough and asthma. Fennel tea is particularly noted as a remedy for headaches associated with poor digestion.

Side effects. In very rare cases allergic skin, gastric and intestinal reactions have been observed.