Illicium (Anise Shrubs)
9 plants in this collection
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![Illicium parviflorum 'Florida Sunshine' anise, bright chartreuse-gold leaves lighting a shaded planting.]()
![Illicium floridanum, Florida anise, deep maroon starfish-shaped flower among glossy evergreen leaves.]()
![Variegated Florida anise (Illicium floridanum), close view of green-on-green variegated evergreen foliage and dark maroon flowers.]()
![Illicium floridanum var. album, a white-flowered form of Florida anise, a native evergreen shrub offered by Woodlanders.]()
![Illicium 'Woodland Ruby' anise tree, ruby-pink star-shaped flowers hanging over glossy dark evergreen foliage.]()
Illicium mexicanum x floridanum album 'Woodland Ruby' $26.00 /Woodland Ruby Anise Tree
- Zones 7–9
- 6–10 ft
About the Illicium (Anise Shrubs) Collection
The genus name is the Latin illicium, an allurement, given for the scent that rises off crushed foliage. Whether the smell allures depends on the species and on the nose: Illicium parviflorum reads as clean root beer, Illicium floridanum as something closer to fish or turpentine, which is why the Florida anise is sometimes planted downwind. The flowers settle the argument, starry and many-petalled, deep maroon in the type and pure white in var. album.
These are among the most useful broadleaf evergreens for Southern shade, dense enough to screen, tolerant of wet feet, and largely ignored by deer. Illicium parviflorum 'Florida Sunshine' holds chartreuse foliage on red stems through winter; Illicium henryi brings soft pink flowers out of China. One honest caution belongs here: the culinary star anise is Illicium verum alone, and the other species in the genus, Illicium anisatum very much included, are toxic and are not a kitchen substitute.
