The History of Fennel

Fennel was well known as a good, flavouring and medicine in ancient China, Greece, India and Egypt. Since Roman times it has been used to help with dieting and to over come hunger during fasts.

The Roman Emperor Charlemagne popularised the use of Fennel in Central Europe, growing it on the imperial farms, and ancient Saxons included fennel in their list of 9 sacred herbs used to combat the nine causes of disease. Pliny, the ancient Greek historian, believed that fennel improved eyesight evidenced, he said, by serpents that regularly ate fennel to restore their sight after being temporarily blinded when shedding their skins.

The Greek physicians Hippocrates and Dioscorides also recommended fennel - to increase the flow of milk in nursing mothers. The 17th century herbalist Culpeper believed that this versatile healing herb could dissolve kidney stones, stop hiccups, prevent nausea and gout. clear liver and lungs, and serve as an antidote to poisonous mushrooms. Like the ancients, the Medievalists used fennel to suppress appetite, but they also hung it over doorways on midsummers eve to protect against witchcraft. Historically fennel is a symbol of flattery and heroism, an aphrodisiac and rejuvenator.