Fennel, Florence
Florence Fennel, known to Italian gardeners as Finocchio, has dill-shaped leaves with a distinctive licorice flavor and may produce bulbs that can be blanched or eaten raw in salads. Medicinally, fennel is used as a carminative to relieve flatulence and colic, is anti-spasmodic and anti-inflammatory, and has estrogenic activity that can stimulate milk flow in nursing mothers.