Christopher Hobbs Media

Online Database of Ailments and Herbs


Information on Fennel

Latin Name
Foeniculum vulgare
Other Names
Finocchio
Part Used
Seeds
Affects
Endocrine system, Digestive system, Liver
Herb Forms
Tincture, essential oil, bulk herb.
Dosages
Decoction: 1 cup 2-3 x daily
Tincture: 1/2 to 2 droppersful 2 x daily
Cautions
None noted.
Botanical Information
A perennial herb of the Parsley family with an erect stem which grows up to six feet tall and has many yellow umbrella-shaped flowering parts and a profusion of plump licorice-tasting greenish-yellow fruits.
Description
A tea made from fennel seeds is widely used for relieving gas, dyspepsia, stomachache, and colic, for children and adults alike. Fennel seed tea is sometimes taken to help rid the lungs of phlegm. Mothers drink it to increase the flow of breast milk. Fennel seed poultices may be used for conjunctivitis. In Chinese medicine fennel is said to relieve indigestion and vomiting and to stimulate the appetite.

Fennel has a taste of ACRID and a temperature of WARM.
References
  • Blumenthal, Mark et al. 1998. The Complete Commission E Monographs. Austin: American Botanical Council.
  • McGuffin, M. et al. 1997. Botanical Safety Handbook. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
  • Felter, H.W. and J.U. Lloyd. 1983. (1898). King's Dispensatory. Portland, OR: Eclectic Medical Publications.
  • Weiss, R. 1988. Herbal Medicine. Beaconsfield, England: Beaconsfield Publishers.
  • Wren, R.C. 1988. Potter's New Cyclopaedia of Botanical Drugs. Essex: C.W. Daniel Co. Ltd.
  • Reynolds, J., ed. 1993. Martindale, The Extra Pharmacopoeia. London: The Pharmaceutical Press.

  • Ailments treated by Fennel

    Ailment
    Treatment Support
    Application
    Lactation, insufficient galactagogue tea, tincture, capsule
    Flatulence carminative tea
    Tympanites, general carminative, digestant tea, tincture
    Stomachache carminative tea, tincture