Anyone with Wild Fennel Seed to Spare?

[irridium]

not the normal kind, but this one's used for southern italian cooking, with the bulb being small, but with a thick stalk and heavy fronds of leaves. apparently, grows wild in california and other states.. does anyone know about this. btw, it isn't florence fennel.
thanks,
xxb

[irridium]

[winecap]

Is this different from the perennial herb fennel?

[goodlife]

I had to google to see if there is any other type of fennel existing that I don't know of. And I'm also wondering if your 'wild' fennel is the perennial herb type. It has spread around many areas for the wold..including America and favour coastal areas there.
It is commonly available in UK so getting seeds is no problem.
Unfortunately I don't have any seeds saved from my bronze form this herb. I don't need to 'save' as it does self seed very easily all over the place  ::)

[goodlife]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fennel-Common-Min-200-seeds-Foeniculum-vulgare-/230510901812?pt=UK_HomeGarden_Garden_PlantsSeedsBulbs_JN&hash=item35ab853a34 .... ;)

[Spudbash]

I think we encountered the type you're talking about, irridium, when we had a holiday in Sicily, recently. The leaves were slightly more wiry and tougher than the fennel we normally see here. It had been grown in volcanic soil, though, and I don't know how that would have affected it. I didn't see any seeds of it, for sale. The agriturismo where we encountered it saved its own seed from year to year. I didn't think the flavour any better than that of the usual herb fennel, but it did have good, thick leafy growth.

Spudbash  :)

[irridium]

http://www.growitalian.com/fennel-sylvatico-62-18/ think it's this one (unfortunately, Seeds of Italy UK don't stock this).
Goodlife: it's not the common fennel, foeniculum vulgare...

[goodlife]

Well...how about this then..?  http://www.originaltouch.co.uk/acatalog/Wild_Fennel.html

[goodlife]

I've been looking and looking around web for the Finocchio sylvatico name..and it is same as Foeniculum vulgare.
There might be slight difference between those plants that are cultivated and truly wild...but as species it is same.
It looks like the confusion comes from Italians using 'their names' and we use botanical latin...it gets confusing.. ::)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fennel

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The leaves were slightly more wiry and tougher than the fennel we normally see here. It had been grown in volcanic soil, though, and I don't know how that would have affected it.
It is quite likely that the growing conditions make difference to appearance and flavour.

"The fennel that grows wild around Northern California is Foeniculum vulgare. There is a bronze colored variety, Foeniculum vulgare rubrum, which can be found at nurseries. The leaves look their best in early spring. A third variety, Foeniculum v. dulce, or F. v. azoricum, also known as Sweet Fennel, Florence Fennel, or Finocchio, is the one that produces the "bulb" used in cooking (it is technically not a bulb at all, but a swelling at the base of the stalk). All of these varieties are members of the Umbelliferae family, which includes coriander/cilantro."

[irridium]

so they're off the same type after all. i just hope that it'll produce the right flavour when it comes down to cooking it then. not sure if it'll do better in poorer soils then, if they normally thrive in hotter areas. i've got a spot on the lotti for that where it's sheltered and dry. thanks for that goodlife, i shall order straightaway as Original Touch seems v. reasonable with a postage cost of 65pence for seeds.. ;D

[grannyjanny]

At Premier seeds direct they're 99p for 200 seeds & 59p P&P.

[irridium]

morning all -

grannyjanny: that'ts not the right kind, but thanks anyway.