Star anise - Photo by Geishaboy500
Star anise and anise have a similar flavor, but they are two very different and unrelated crops. Fruits of the star anise have of course a star shape.
Names
Scientific
Illicium verum
English
Badian
Chinese star anise
Star anise
Star aniseed
Dutch
Steranijs
Spanish
Anís estrellado
French
Anis étoilé
Badiane chinoise
Badianier de Chine
German
Echter Sternanis
Italian
Anice stellato
Taxonomy
Genus
Illicium
Family
Schisandraceae
Order
Austrobaileyales
Basic information and facts
Origin:
Originates from northeast Vietnam and southwest China.
Distribution:
China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Japan and Philippines.
Evergreen or deciduous:
Star anise is an evergreen tree.
Fruits:
The star shaped fruits are used as a spice.
Climate and weather:
Tropical
Height:
?
Spacing:
?
Propagation:
?
Harvesting:
Fruits are harvested just before they are ripe.
Uses:
Star anise is used as a spice in Chinese, Indian, Malay and Indonesian cuisine. Also used (sometimes to replace anise) in baking or liquor production.
Also known for its medicinal use, for example in a tea to treat rheumatism. Star anise seeds can be chewed after meals to aid digestion.
Did you know that?
A similar tree, the Japanese star anise (Illicium anisatum), is not edible because it is very toxic.
Crop categories
Spices
Medicinal plants
Tropical crops
Pictures
Star anise - Photo by Geishaboy500
Star anise - Photo by Geishaboy500
There is, in fact, NO SUCH spice as “Star Aniseed”.
STAR ANISE is the dried FRUIT of a small TREE species (Illicium vera) native to southwest ASIA.
ANISEED (short for Anise seed) is the SEED from the ANISE herb (‘Pimpinella anisum’), native to the MEDITERRANEAN.
Thank you for your comment. The name star aniseed is used in several documents, see for example: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/illicium-verum