Named in Hortulus and Capitulare de villis
Fennel
Foeniculum vulgare
What was written
Fennel is named in the Hortulus and ordered planted by the Capitulare de villis. It belongs to the group of garden plants whose monastic use was never solely medicinal: it was a kitchen plant, a seed crop and a garden staple at once, and the early lists rarely trouble to separate those roles.
The plant itself
A tall umbellifer with hollow stems, feathery blue-green foliage and flat heads of small yellow flowers. It self-seeds freely and naturalises readily on dry, disturbed ground.
Still growing
Since the plant was written into that garden list, botanists, herbaria and ordinary observers have recorded finding it 165,964 times.
Live count from GBIF, cached for a week.