| Giant Tangier Fennel | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Apiales |
| Family: | Apiaceae |
| Genus: | Ferula |
| Species: | F. tingitana |
| Binomial name | |
| Ferula tingitana L. |
|
Ferula tingitana (the Giant Tangier Fennel) is a species of the Apiaceae genus Ferula. Despite the name, the plant is not a type of fennel proper, which belongs to another genus (Foeniculum).
Ferula tingitana is a tall perennial herb. It has alternate leaf arrangement and yellow, unisexual flowers which, like other Apiaceae, grow in umbels. It grows in scrubland (batha and phrygana) and rocky areas.[1] Its range is the Mediterranean coast, in Spain, Morocco, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus, and Turkey.[2]
In the 1980s there was chemical interest in esters and ethers extracted from it.[3] [4][5]
This species has been considered to have abortive and menstruation-inducing properties.[6] The species has been suggested as a possible identity for the controversial silphium, a plant used as a spice and for various medical purposes in classical antiquity in the Mediterranean region.[7] Among the many uses of silphium was promoting menstruation, and possibly contraceptive or abortifacient properties, which has been suggested to link it to Ferula.