Cystoseira foeniculacea forms tufts up to 30 centimetres (12 in) long, attached to the substrate with a broad disc-shaped holdfast.

The proximity of the oogonia and the antheridia strongly suggest that C. foeniculacea self-fertilises.

[3] Cystoseira foeniculacea is found in the mid-littoral zone and in other sheltered places, from the British Isles to Senegal, and in the Mediterranean Sea.

[2] Cystoseira foeniculacea was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his seminal 1753 work Species Plantarum, under the name "Fucus foeniculaceus".

[4] The vernacular name "bushy feather wrack" has been proposed for this species.