"Dog-fennel" (and variants) redirect here. In North America, this usually refers to the large perennial herb Eupatorium capillifolium

Eupatorium capillifolium

Eupatorium capillifolium is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Asteraceae, native to southeastern North America. It is generally between 50 cm and 2 meters tall with several stems that fork from a substantial base. The stems and base are covered in leaves so dissected that they...

.

Anthemis (Án-the-mis

Syllable stress of Botanical Latin

Syllable stress of botanical names varies with the language spoken by the person using the botanical name. In English-speaking countries the Botanical Latin places syllable stress for botanical names derived from ancient Greek and Latin broadly according to two systems, either the Reformed...

) is a genus of about 100 species of aromatic herbs in the Asteraceae

Asteraceae

The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...

, closely related to Chamaemelum

Chamaemelum

Chamaemelum is a small genus of plants in the daisy family known generally as dogfennels. Perhaps the best-known dogfennel is Roman Chamomile, Chamaemelum nobile, syn. Anthemis nobilis. These are annual or perennial herbs, rarely exceeding half a meter in height and usually bearing solitary white...

, and like that genus, known by the common name chamomile

Chamomile

Chamomile or camomile is a common name for several daisy-like plants of the family Asteraceae. These plants are best known for their ability to be made into an infusion which is commonly used to help with sleep and is often served with either honey or lemon. Because chamomile can cause uterine...

; some species are also called dog-fennel or mayweed. However, Mayweed

Mayweed

Matricaria is a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower family . Some of the species have the common name of "mayweed," but this name also refers to plants not in this genus....

 is improperly used for this genus since Mayweed refers to the Matricaria genus. Anthemis are native to the Mediterranean region and southwest Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 east to Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

. A number of species have also become naturalized in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

/United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and in other parts of the world.

Anthemis species are used as food plants by the larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e of some Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...

 species including Orthonama obstipata (The Gem) and Bucculatrix anthemidella, a leaf-miner which feeds exclusively on Anthemis tinctoria.

Cultivation and uses

The flowers are commonly used for tea, and the leaves, when crushed, give off a scent of apples. It grows well in light, sandy soil. Nicknamed "the plants' physician", it seems to improve the health of other plants grown near it. Chamomile flowers make a good rinse for fair hair.

Species

Anthemis contains about 100 species, including the following:

• Anthemis altissima
• Anthemis arvensis
  Anthemis arvensis
  Anthemis arvensis, which is also known as corn chamomile or mayweed, scentless chamomile, and # field chamomile, anthémis des champs, fausse camomille, Ackerkamille, camomila-do-campo , manzanilla silvestre is a species of the genus Anthemis and in the Asteraceae family...
  
  
• Anthemis austriaca
• Anthemis carpatica
  Anthemis carpatica
  Anthemis carpatica is a species of the genus Anthemis and in the Asteraceae family. It may also be treated as a subspecies of Anthemis cretica.-External links:*...
  
  
• Anthemis cinerea
• Anthemis cotula
  Anthemis cotula
  Anthemis cotula, also known as stinking chamomile, is a flowering annual plant with a noticeable and strong odor. The odor is often considered unpleasant, and it is from this that it gains the common epithet "stinking". It is initially native to Europe and North Africa...
  
  
• Anthemis cretica
• Anthemis glaberrima
  Anthemis glaberrima
  Anthemis glaberrima is a species of flowering plant in the Asteraceae family.It is found only in Greece.Its natural habitats are Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation and rocky shores.-Source:* Latroú, G. 2006. . Downloaded on 20 July 2007....
  
  
• Anthemis haussknechtii
• Anthemis macedonica
• Anthemis marschalliana
• Anthemis melampodina
• Anthemis nobilis
  Anthemis nobilis
  Anthemis nobilis [synonym: chamaemelum nobile], commonly known as Roman camomile, chamomile, garden camomile, ground apple, low chamomile, English chamomile, or whig plant, is a low perennial plant found in dry fields and around gardens and cultivated grounds...
  
  (also known as Chamaemelum nobile), Roman chamomile
• Anthemis punctata
• Anthemis rosea
• Anthemis sanci-johannis
• Anthemis secundiramea
• Anthemis styriaca
• Anthemis tinctoria
  Anthemis tinctoria
  Cota tinctoria, or Golden Marguerite and Yellow Chamomile, is a species in the genus Anthemis of the Sunflower family ....
  
  
• Anthemis triumfetti
• Anthemis tuberculata