Plants up to 2 m tall, glabrous, glaucous. Stem striate. Leaves 3-4-pinnate; segments filiform, up to 4 cm long; leaf bases sheathing. Rays 5-30, 1-6 cm long. Carpophore divided to the base. Fruit oblong to ovoid, 3-5 mm long, glabrous.

Type locality:? S. France.

Distribution: A cosmopolitan species.

Fennel is commonly cultivated from the plains to 2000 m and has a wide distribution. The leaves are used as a vegetable and the fruits as a spice and as a carminative.