Fennel is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including in its native range the mouse moth and the Old-World swallowtail. Where it has been introduced in North America it may be used by the anise swallowtail. The word "fennel" developed from the Middle English "fenel" or "fenyl". This came from the Old English "fenol" or "finol", which in turn came from the Latin "feniculum" or "foeniculum", the diminutive of "fenum" or "faenum", meaning "hay". The Latin word for the plant was "ferula", which is now used as the genus name of a related plant. The
Fennel In Spain, the stems of the fennel plant are used in the preparation of pickled eggplants, ". An herbal tea or tisane can be made from fennel. On account of its aromatic properties, fennel fruit forms one of the ingredients of the well-known compound liquorice powder. In the Indian subcontinent, fennel seeds are also eaten raw, sometimes with a sweetener. In Israel, fennel salad is made of chopped fennel bulbs flavored with salt, black pepper, lemon juice, parsley, olive oil and sometimes sumac. As grouped by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, production data for fennel are combined with