fennel history

[Burnetted at aol.com]

Hi Leps-Listers and Susan,

Susan asked, "Does anyone know how fennel arrived in the US or how it spread?
Can anyone recommend a book?"

I have a copy of the 1972 Dover reprint of the 1919 book, *Sturtevant's Edible
Plants of the World* on the bookshelf next to the computer, so I looked at the
entry for fennel.  It has a wealth of information that might suggest an answer
to the question.

Sturtevant reports that fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is native to Europe and
Asia.  It was cultivated by the Romans, and is "mentioned in an ancient record
of Spanish agriculture of 961 A.D."  Fennel is found in Anglo-Saxon medical
recipes as early as the 11th century.  Based on this information, it could
easily have been aboard the early Spanish ships on their way to the Americas
in the 1400's.

Fennel was included in an 1806 publication on American garden herbs, showing
that it was already in the US by then.  Charles Darwin found the plant growing
wild in South America in the 1850's, so it was well-established by that time.
Since fennel leaves, seeds, and diffusions were widely used as vegetables,
condiments, and medicines, it is a reasonable speculation that it was among
the first plants to be cultivated by Europeans in the Americas, thus among the
first to escape to the wild.

I enjoyed researching this information.  I hope it is helpful.

Dennis Burnette
Greensboro, NC
burnetted at aol.com