Sweet Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) - Non-Native

8/18/04 South Marsh Loop Trail, Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Reserve,

Monterey County, CA

LIFE LIST NOTES:

COMMON NAME: Sweet Fennel

SPECIES: Foeniculum vulgare

FAMILY: Apiaceae (Carrot Family)

LIFE LIST DATE: 8/18/2004

LOCATION: South Marsh Loop Trail, Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Reserve, Monterey County, CA

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Treatment from The Jepson Manual (1993):

Perennial, taprooted, 0.9–2 m, glabrous, glaucous, anise- or licorice-scented

Stem erect, branched, solid

Leaf: petiole 7–14 cm, conspicuously sheathing; blade 3–4 dm wide, triangular-ovate, pinnately finely dissected, segments 4–40 mm, thread-like

Inflorescence: umbels compound, peduncled; bracts, bractlets 0; rays 15–40, unequal, 1–4 cm, spreading-ascending to ascending; pedicels 18–25, 1–10 mm, sub equal

Flower: calyx lobes 0; petals wide, yellow, tips narrowed

Fruit 3.5–4 mm, oblong-ovate, compressed side-to-side, glabrous; ribs subequal, prominent, acute; oil tubes per rib-interval 1; fruit axis divided to base

Seed: face generally flat

Ecology: Roadsides, waste places

Elevation: 0–350 m.  

Bioregional distribution: California Floristic Province, White and Inyo Mountains 

Distribution outside California: native to s Europe; widely escaped from cultivated in w hemisphere

Flowering time: May–Sep

Locally abundant and invasive.