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Fennel or Foeniculum vulgare , meaning "little hay" due to the finely divided leaves of the fennel plant, has had a long history. The early Puritans of the 16th Century named it "meeting seed" as they would chew the seed during church ceremonies.During the 17th Century the herbalist and ..."
Fennel or Foeniculum vulgare , meaning "little hay" due to the finely divided leaves of the fennel plant, has had a long history. The early Puritans of the 16th Century named it "meeting seed" as they would chew the seed during church ceremonies.During the 17th Century the herbalist and astrologer Nicholas Culpepper claimed fennel could help those with excess weight to lose a few pounds, and with a similar dietary purpose ancient Greek athletes ate the seed to give strength but not weight. In the Middle Ages you would have found the people using it to suppress hunger during periods of fasting.In Chinese andHindu culture it was used to dispel poisons from the body after snake bites or scorpion stings.
Whilst the Saxons regarded it as one of their sacred herbs believed to be able to cure what they thought were the nine causes of disease. They also believed it to be a magical herb able to keep evil spirits from their homes during Midsummer's Eve. The seeds of fennel were placed into the key holes to keep ghosts from entering.
Thought to
have originated from the Mediterranean, fennel has since spread
throughout Europe, India, Australia and the Americas, and seems to have
a widespread appreciation.
This plant can be enjoyed
and used as a food, herb or spice. It's a root vegetable related to the
carrot and has a herbal foliage with flowers that contain the fruit or
seed.
Amongst botanists of today fennel isregarded as the most aromatic of all the herbs.
It is part of the apiaceae
family or umbelliferae which is a type of umbel or cluster of flowers,
so named as it resembles an umbrella with its flower heads.
Other types of umbelliferae
include wild carrot, parsley, dill, chervil, caraway and coriander to
name but a few. Included in this family tree is the renowned poison
hemlock, which is believed to have been used to poison Socrates; so you
might say it's a family of both good and bad qualities.
The compound anethol is the
extract of essential oil obtained from the seed and is renowned for its
aromatic scent which resembles aniseed or liquorice.
The seeds, stems and leaves
of this plant can all be used for medicinal purposes. Its main
components consist of coumarins (powerful anti-coagulants), volatile
oils,fl......
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A sliver of four-billion-year-old sea floor has offered a glimpse into the inner workings of an adolescent Earth. The baked and twisted rocks, now part of Greenland, show the earliest evidence of plate tectonics, colossal movements of the planet's outer shell. Until now, researchers were unable to say when the process, which explains how oceans and continents form, began. The unique find, described in the journal Science, shows the movements started soon after the planet formed. &quo...Did comets cause killer cold spell ?
Tiny diamonds sprinkled across North America suggest a "swarm" of comets hit the Earth around 13,000 years ago, kicking up enough disruption to send the planet into a cold spell and drive mammoths and other creatures into extinction, scientists reported on Friday.They suggest an event that wouldtranscend anything Biblical -- a series of blinding explosions in the atmosphere equivalent to thousands of atomic bombs, the researchers said.The so-called nanodiamonds are made underhigh-temperature, hi...Prehistoric jungles laughed at global warming
Evidence has been found to suggest that giant creatures such as the massive one-tonne titanoboa snake would have thrived in hot jungles millions of years ago with temperatures significantlywarmer than those seen today."Fossil boffins say that dense triple-canopyrainforests, home among other things to gigantic one-tonne boa constrictors, flourished millions of years ago in temperatures 3-5°C warmer than those seen today - as hot...Study explains rainforest similarities
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One of the ways most animals communicate is with sound, they may neigh, bark,
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meaning for the species concerned. We understand words,
horses understand neighs, dogs understand barks and so on.
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mean little to cats, but what is universal is body language.
Animals can understand the body language of their species and of others.
They usually recognize a...Ancient tsunami 'hit New York'
A huge wave crashed into the New York City region 2,300 years ago, dumping sediment and shells across Long Island and New Jersey and casting wood debris far up the Hudson River. The scenario, proposed by scientists, is undergoing further examination to verify radiocarbon dates and to rule out other causes of the upheaval. Sedimentary deposits from more than 20 cores in New York and New Jersey indicate that some sort of violent force swept the Northeast coastal region in 300BC. It may ...Massive ice chunks break up in Antarctica
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Sea floor records ancient Earth
Did comets cause killer cold spell ?
Prehistoric jungles laughed at global warming
Study explains rainforest similarities
Prepare for another ten scorching years
Animal Language
Ancient tsunami 'hit New York'
Massive ice chunks break up in Antarctica
Global warming could change Earths tilt
