Botanical name: Foeniculum vulgare, subsp. vulgare var. vulgare
Native origin: The Mediterranean
Part used: Fruit (often referred to as seed)

Fennel is a graceful perennial herb that grows a mass of stalks reaching up to 5 feet high, with a a cascade of soft, feathery leaves and large, flat, circular flowering tops of stalky yellow flowers. Fennel seeds contain an essential oil, which is rich with anethole and fenchone, and known for its capacity to ease uncomfortable feelings of fullness, bloating or gassiness, or as an all-around promoter of healthy digestion*. We use a more bitter variety of fennel seed with a higher essential oil content than those traditionally used in food and flavorings—which is one of the things that makes our fennel tea so soothing.

Did you know? Fennel was called “marathon” by the ancient Greeks—the Battle of Marathon was named after all the fennel plants growing at the battle site.

Some of our favorite organic fennel comes from small farms in Bulgaria— part of fennel’s native stomping grounds—where it is harvested in the late summer to early fall.