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
HMCS Fennel She remained with this group until December 1944. On 6 March 1944, after unsuccessful attempts at towing the boat to port "U-744" was sunk in the North Atlantic, in position 52°01′N, 22°37′W, after being torpedoed by the British destroyer HMS "Icarus". "U-744" was attacked for over 30 hours by depth charges from the "Fennel", along with HMS "Icarus", the frigate HMCS "St. Catharines", corvettes HMCS "Chilliwack" and HMS "Kenilworth Castle", destroyers HMCS "Chaudiere" and HMCS "Gatineau". Not all these ships fought at the same time, as "Gatineau" and "Kenilworth Castle" both had to leave with mechanical defects during the battle.