PARSLEY 491 



The volatile oil of fennel contains 50 to 60 per cent of anethol; 

 about 20 per cent of fenchone, which gives the fruit its characteristic 

 odor and taste; chavicol (isomer of anethol); anise ketone; anisic 

 aldehyde; anisic acid, d-pinene and dipentene. 



The sweet or Roman fennel, obtained from plants (F. dulce) 

 cultivated in southern France, has longer and somewhat curved meri- 

 carps, and yields about 2 per cent of oil, containing considerable 

 anethol but no fenchone. Macedonian fennel oil contains consid- 

 erable anethol, some limonene and phellandrene, but no fenchone. 

 Wild bitter fennel oil, obtained from wild plants, contains scarcely 

 any anethol, but consists in part of phellandrene and fenchone. 



Standard of Purity. Fennel seed is the dried fruit of cultivated 

 varieties of Fceniculum vulgare Hill. It contains not more than 

 9 per cent of total ash, nor more than 2 per cent of ash insoluble in 

 hydrochloric acid. (U. S. Dept. Agric.) 



Adulterations. Bitter Fennel, the fruit of Fceniculum piperitum, 

 has been substituted. The fruits are much smaller, decidedly bitter, 

 and the volatile oil is different in aroma. Fennel is frequently con- 

 taminated with wheat screenings, undeveloped fruits, various other 

 umbelliferous fruits and dirt. 



Allied Drugs. The more or less fusiform root of Fceniculum 

 vulgare is also used like fennel. It is 8 to 15 cm. in length, of an 

 aromatic odor and taste, and contains a volatile oil, resin, starch 

 and sugar. 



PETROSELINUM. Fructus Petroselini, Garden or Common Pars- 

 ley Fruit. The ripe fruit of Petroselinum sativum (Fam. Umbelli- 

 ferse), a biennial herb, indigenous to southern Europe and Asia Minor 

 and extensively cultivated, the leaves being used as a seasoning 

 herb for culinary purposes. Pliny states that in his time there 

 was not a salad or sauce used upon the table that did not contain 

 it. The fruits are gathered in September and October and -carefully 

 dried. 



Description. Mericarps usually separated, somewhat crescent- 

 shaped, 2 to 3 mm. in length, 1 mm. in diameter; externally grayish- 

 brown becoming grayish or brownish on aging, having 5 yellowish, 

 filiform, prominent ribs, alternating with the coarsely roughened 

 furrows; in transverse section nearly hemispherical, the commis- 

 sural surface with 2 vittse, or oil-canals, the dorsal surface usually with 

 a single vitta, occasionally 2 vittse, in the grooves between the 

 primary ribs; endosperm large, oily, enclosing a small embryo; 

 odor and taste characteristic and distinctly aromatic, especially when 

 bruised. 



