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I pass through fragrant California sagebrush and wild fennel in one spot, a blend of sweet pea, lilac and kicked-up dirt in another.

It was warm and almost summer, and the wild fennel had grown taller than me and was blooming with big yellow clusters, my father’s head up where the blooms were, mine several feet below, as I led the way through stalks.

She also noted that porchetta requires garlic, rosemary, sage, and wild fennel pollen, as well as "good meat."

The Kitchn notes that while it's derived from wild fennel, its flavor is very different from fennel or anise.

For both professionals and amateurs, invasive ingredients continue to multiply, with some becoming prized for their vivid flavor, like wild fennel from the Mediterranean that proliferates in abandoned lots, and black tiger shrimp in the waters off Texas, half the length of a human arm and as plump and sweet as lobster.