Fennel, Umbelliferae, fennel.

Scientific name: DC heterophyllous umbrella. ;

Alias: August White.

Herbs perennial, 0.3-2 m tall. Usually fibrous roots, sparse conical roots. The stems are erect, striped and pilose, with branches in the middle and upper parts.

The leaves are shaped, the basal petiole is long, and the leaf sheath is 2- 13 cm long; Leaf blade trifoliate, lobes ovate, lobes oblique on both sides, top lobe heart-shaped or wedge-shaped, length1.5-4cm, width1-3cm, sparsely undivided or pinnately divided, papery; The middle and lower leaves of the stem are divided into three parts or pinnate parts; The upper leaves of the stem are small, short-stalked or sessile, with leaf sheaths, pinnately divided or 3-lobed, with lanceolate lobes and serrated edges.

Usually without involucral bracts, sparse 1-5, lanceolate; Umbrella spoke 6- 15 (-30), length1-4 cm; Involucral bracts 1-8, shorter than pedicels; Umbellies have 6-20 flowers with different pedicels; Teeth without calyx.

Petals obovate, white, wedge-shaped at the base, concave at the top, uvula inflexed, hairy on the back; The base of the style is conical, and the length of the style is 2-3 times that of the base of the style. It stands upright in the young fruit and then bends to both sides.

Young fruit is ovoid, hairy, mature fruit is ovoid, base is heart-shaped, nearly hairless, and fruit margin is linear; There are 2-3 oil pipes in each groove and 4-6 oil pipes in the joint surface; The ventral surface of endosperm is straight.

The flowering and fruiting period is May-65438+1October.

Tibet, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Fujian, Guangxi, Guangdong and Taiwan Province provinces.

Born in hillside grassland, beside ditches or under forests at an altitude of160-3300m. Distributed in Vietnam, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Nepal and Japan.

This species is similar to Prunus armeniaca, but it is usually a fibrous root. The basal leaves are mostly trifoliate, papery, and the total bracts are small and shorter than the flower stalks.

However, the roots of Illicium verum leaves are cylindrical or oblong, the basal leaves are usually undivided and nearly leathery, and the small involucral bracts are equal to or longer than the flower stalks.

Illicium verum is widely distributed in China, with Shaanxi and Henan in the north, Tibet in the west, Yunnan, Guangxi and Guangdong in the south, and southeast coastal provinces and Taiwan Province Province in the east.

The octagonal shape in East China is similar to that in Japan. From southwest to southwest in Sichuan and northwest in Yunnan, a few plants have conical roots, multiform basal leaves, trifoliate leaves, pinnate leaves and simple leaves, but the total bracts are small and shorter than the flower stalks.

(Excerpted from Flora of China)

Photo photography: Chen