Fennel similar spices – anise, star anise, and coriander. In 2014, India produced 60% of the world total of fennel, with China and Bulgaria as leading secondary producers (table). Many species in the family Apiaceae or Umbelliferae are superficially similar to fennel, and some, such as poison hemlock, are toxic, so it is unwise, and potentially extremely dangerous, to use any part of any of these plants as an herb or vegetable unless it can be positively identified as being edible. Dill, coriander, and caraway are similar-looking herbs, but shorter-growing than fennel, reaching only . Dill has thread-like, feathery leaves and
Fennel Greek name for fennel is marathon () or "marathos" (), and the place of the famous battle of Marathon literally means a plain with fennel. The word is first attested in Mycenaean Linear B form as ". As Old English ", fennel is one of the nine plants invoked in the pagan Anglo-Saxon "Nine Herbs Charm", recorded in the 10th century. In the 15th century, Portuguese settlers on Madeira noticed the abundance of wild fennel, and used the Portuguese word "funcho" (fennel) and the suffix "" to form the name of a new town, Funchal. Longfellow's 1842 poem "The Goblet