Dark-Green Leaved. Loud.
A variety with deep-green foliage. Its uses, and modes of culture, are the same as those of the foregoing species.
Florence Or Italian Fennel. Mill.
Finochio. Sweet Azorian Fennel. Fœniculum dulce.
Quite distinct from the Common Fennel, and generally cultivated as an annual. The stem, which is about eighteen inches high, expands near the surface of the ground; and, when divided horizontally, presents an oval form, measuring four or five inches in one direction, and two inches in the opposite. The flowers are produced in umbels, as in the other species. The seeds are slender, yellow, somewhat curved, sweet and pleasant to the taste, and of an agreeable, anise-like odor.
Sowing and Culture.—The plant should be grown in well-enriched, mellow soil. Sow the seeds in April or May, thinly, in shallow drills from eighteen inches to two feet apart. Half an ounce of seeds will be sufficient for fifty feet of drill; or, by transplanting when they spring up too thickly, will furnish seedlings for a hundred feet.
The plants should be eight or ten inches apart; and, when the stems have attained a sufficient size, they should be earthed up for blanching, in the manner of Celery. Two or three weeks will be required to perfect this; and, if properly treated, the stems will be found white, crisp, tender, and excellent.
Plants from the first sowing will be ready for use in July and August. For a succession, a few seeds may be sown in June, or early in July.
Use.—The blanched portion of the stem is mixed in soups, and also used as a salad. It is served like Celery, with various condiments; and possesses a sweet, pleasant, aromatic taste.
It is a popular vegetable in some parts of Europe, but is rarely cultivated in this country.