Common giant-fennel

Ferula communis, the giant fennel, is a robust herbaceous perennial of the carrot family (Apiaceae) widespread across the Mediterranean basin, from Portugal to the Levant and along the North African coast. It produces a stout, deep taproot that supports a basal rosette of large, finely divided leaves; the leaves are pinnately to several times pinnately dissected into thread-like ultimate segments, giving them a feathery appearance. After several years of vegetative growth, the plant sends up a single hollow, ribbed flowering stem that can reach 2–3 m tall and 5–10 cm thick at the base. Numerous compound umbels of small yellow flowers are arranged in a large panicle-like inflorescence at the top of the stem in late spring and early summer. The fruit is an elliptic, flattened, winged schizocarp 10–15 mm long. The species favours open, dry grassland, garrigue and rocky slopes; the stem, when dry, is light and pith-filled and was used in classical times to carry fire.