Ferula communisL.

Giant Fennel

WFO wfo-0000686505 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Ferula communis, photographed by Pete Bradshaw
fig. a Pete Bradshaw, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-09 / obs. 204824643
Ferula communis, photographed by AnimalObserverDeniz321
fig. b AnimalObserverDeniz321, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 197593978
Ferula communis, photographed by Marco Mussita
fig. c Marco Mussita, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 197305951
Ferula communis, photographed by Abdenour Kheloufi
fig. d Abdenour Kheloufi, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 197892525
Ferula communis, photographed by Marco Mussita
fig. e Marco Mussita, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 192198074
Ferula communis, photographed by scolym
fig. f scolym, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 192762312
Ferula communis, photographed by hecklemore
fig. g hecklemore, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 189165861
Ferula communis, photographed by AnimalObserverDeniz321
fig. h AnimalObserverDeniz321, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 188715598

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 32 botanical countries

Regions where Ferula communis is native: Algeria, Canary Is., Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Morocco, Somalia, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Lebanon-Syria, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Yemen, Albania, Baleares, Corse, France, Greece, Italy, Kriti, NW. Balkan Pen., Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain, Türkiye-in-Europe AlgeriaDjiboutiEritreaEthiopiaKenyaLibyaMoroccoSomaliaSudan-South SudanTanzaniaTunisiaUgandaCyprusEast Aegean Is.Lebanon-SyriaPalestineSaudi ArabiaTürkiyeYemenAlbaniaCorseFranceGreeceItalyKritiNW. Balkan Pen.SiciliaSpainTürkiye-in-Europe Canary Is.BalearesSardegna
Native distribution of Ferula communis, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Canary Is. CNY
Djibouti DJI
Eritrea ERI
Ethiopia ETH
Kenya KEN
Libya LBY
Morocco MOR
Somalia SOM
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Tunisia TUN
Uganda UGA
Albania ALB EUROPE
Baleares BAL
Corse COR
France FRA
Greece GRC
Italy ITA
Kriti KRI
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Sardegna SAR
Sicilia SIC
Spain SPA
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Cyprus CYP ASIA-TEMPERATE
East Aegean Is. EAI
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Palestine PAL
Saudi Arabia SAU
Türkiye TUR
Yemen YEM

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 23 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Bubon rigidior L.
  • Ferula abyssinica Hochst. ex A.Rich.
  • Ferula anatriches (Kotschy) Sint.
  • Ferula brevifolia Link ex Schult.
  • Ferula communis f. ellipsocarpa Maire
  • Ferula communis f. strongylocarpa Maire
  • Ferula communis var. anatriches Kotschy
  • Ferula communis var. brevifolia (Link ex Schult.) Mariz
  • Ferula communis var. catalaunica C.Vicioso
  • Ferula communis var. catalaunica Pau
  • Ferula communis var. gummifera Batt.
  • Ferula communis var. nodiflora (L.) Borg
  • Ferula communis var. paucivittata Willk.
  • Ferula ferulago L.
  • Ferula linkii Webb
  • Ferula lobeliana Vis.
  • Ferula montis-elgonis Bullock
  • Ferula nodiflora L.
  • Ferula rigida Ten.
  • Ferula tingitana var. hispanica Rouy
  • Ferulago nodosa subsp. rigida (Ten.) Troìa & Raimondo
  • Lophosciadium meoides Calest.
  • Peucedanum ferula Baill.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.