Moti Saunf / Fennel
Foeniculum vulgare
Also known as Sweet Fennel
- Habit
- Herb
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi & more
- Flowering
- October-June
How to identify Moti Saunf
Identify Moti Saunf by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a herb habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Sweet anise-scented feathery leaves.
- Confirm leaf shape: Deeply feathery/finely divided.
- Confirm flower colour: Yellow.
- Confirm flower arrangement: Umbel.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: October-June.
- In India, compare location records such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Telangana and nearby regions.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Foeniculum vulgare
- Genus
- Foeniculum
- Family
- Apiaceae
- Habit
- Herb
- Native to
- Mediterranean
- Distribution
- Cultivated in most parts of the world
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Odisha, Punjab
- Flowering & fruiting
- October-June
Leaf characters
- Leaf shape
- Deeply feathery/finely dividedrecorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Moti Saunf itself; the rest are typical of the Apiaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Yellowrecorded
- Flower arrangement
- UmbelrecordedFlower stalks all radiate from a single point, like umbrella ribs.“The flowers are produced in terminal compound umbels 5–17.5 cm (2–7 in) wide, each umbel section having 20–50 tiny yellow flowers on short pedicels.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Fruit type
- SchizocarprecordedA dry fruit that splits apart at maturity into several one-seeded segments.“The fruit is a dry schizocarp from 4–10 mm (3⁄16–3⁄8 in) long, half as wide or less, and grooved.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Umbel
- Fruit
- Schizocarp
Characters marked “recorded” are for Moti Saunf itself; the rest are typical of the Apiaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- मोटी सौंफ Moti saunf,सौंफ saumph,सौंफ़ saunf
- Nepali
- सुप
- Bengali
- মৌৰী Mauri, মৌরি, মিঠা জিরা
- Tamil
- Sompu, பெருஞ்சீரகம், சோம்பு
- Telugu
- Peddajilakarra, సోంపు
- Kannada
- Dodda sompu, ಸೊಂಪು
- Malayalam
- Preumjirakam, പെരുംജീരകം, Fennel
- Marathi
- बडीशेप Badishep, बडीशेप, बडीसोप
About Moti Saunf
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) belongs to the Apiaceae family, where it grows as a herb. In India it has been recorded in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and 12 other states. Flowering and fruiting run from October to June.
Uses
Locally it is grown for parts that are eaten, long used in traditional medicine and planted as an ornamental. Those medicinal uses are traditional attributions, not medical advice.
Apiaceae
Carrot family
Moti Saunf belongs to the Apiaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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Common plant problems
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