Each carpel is 10 mm long, boat shaped, hard and wrinkled containing a seed. Fruits are star shaped, reddish brown consisting of 6-8 carpels arranged in a whorl.

Flowers are large, bisexual, 1-1.5 cm in diameter, white-pink to red or greenish-yellow, axillary and solitary. Leaves are 10-15 cm long, 2.5 вЂ“ 5 cm broad, alternate, simple, leathery, often clustered 3-4 together at the end of branches. The bark is white to bright grey and straight rounded trunk. Stem is erect, round and grooved and branched above. Star Anise is an evergreen medium sized tree, 8-15 (-20) m tall and a diameter of 25 cm with a straight rounded trunk and green, glabrous branchlets. The spice is added whole to dishes to let its flavor infuse your cooking, or ground and added more sparingly. On the other hand, star anise is more common in Asian cooking. Anise seed is used more in Western dishes, particularly in Greek and French cuisine, since it has an intense, aromatic flavor thatвЂ™s good for sauces.

For starters, anise seed belongs to the Apiaceae family and star anise comes from the Schisandraceae family. While both spices contain an essential oil called anethole, their similarities end here. Some people think that star anise and anise seed are the same. Star anise tastes much like a standard anise seed, but slightly bitterer, which is why some chefs use it to provide a licorice flavor for some dishes. It is important to note that you should only use the Chinese variety as there are concerns regarding the toxicity of Japanese star anise. Traditionally used as a spice and also as a healing herb, star anise appears to have medicinal properties that provide it with significant health benefits.

The star shaped fruits are harvested just before ripening and are dried before use. It is a medium-sized native evergreen tree of northeast Vietnam and southwest China. Illicium verum, commonly known as Star anise, star aniseed, or Chinese star anise is a spice that closely looks like anise in flavor, obtained from the star-shaped pericarp of Illicium verum.

Pdf info about anise