{"title":"Illicium (Anise Shrubs)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe genus name is the Latin \u003cem\u003eillicium\u003c\/em\u003e, an allurement, given for the scent that rises off crushed foliage. Whether the smell allures depends on the species and on the nose: \u003cem\u003eIllicium parviflorum\u003c\/em\u003e reads as clean root beer, \u003cem\u003eIllicium floridanum\u003c\/em\u003e 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. \u003cem\u003ealbum\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese are among the most useful broadleaf evergreens for Southern shade, dense enough to screen, tolerant of wet feet, and largely ignored by deer. \u003cem\u003eIllicium parviflorum\u003c\/em\u003e 'Florida Sunshine' holds chartreuse foliage on red stems through winter; \u003cem\u003eIllicium henryi\u003c\/em\u003e brings soft pink flowers out of China. One honest caution belongs here: the culinary star anise is \u003cem\u003eIllicium verum\u003c\/em\u003e alone, and the other species in the genus, \u003cem\u003eIllicium anisatum\u003c\/em\u003e very much included, are toxic and are not a kitchen substitute.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"illicium-floridanum-halleys-comet","title":"Illicium floridanum 'Halley's Comet'","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe anise trees, genus Illicium, are aromatic broadleaf evergreens of the star-anise family, Schisandraceae, named from the Latin illicium, an allurement, for the scent of their leaves. Illicium floridanum, the Florida anise, is the Southeast's own contribution, a shade-loving evergreen native along shaded streambanks and seepage slopes from the Florida panhandle to Louisiana. 'Halley's Comet' is one of the best selections, a vigorous but compact form with especially dark foliage and a heavy show of velvety, star-shaped flowers in deep wine-red.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn bloom the flowers seem to hover against the glossy leaves like a scatter of dark red stars, and the plant flowers more freely than the run of the species, giving real drama to the spring shade garden. The leathery, three to six inch leaves are anise-scented when crushed, pleasant and characteristic of the genus, though, like all Florida anise, the foliage and fruit are toxic and not the culinary star anise of the spice rack. That same chemistry makes the plant reliably deer-resistant.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'Halley's Comet' was selected by the plantsman David Ellis and introduced by the former Magnolia Nursery of Chunchula, Alabama, a nursery long respected for its work with Southern natives. The selection stands out for intense flower color, strong repeat performance, and a denser, more compact habit than the wild plant, usually settling around six to eight feet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFlorida anise wants what few flowering shrubs will take: real shade and steady moisture. Use 'Halley's Comet' for woodland borders and shaded foundations, massed beneath canopy trees, or as an evergreen screen in a moist, shady spot where little else will bloom. The dark foliage gives year-round structure, and the rich flowers bring unexpected depth to spring shade. Ferns, evergreen hollies, native azaleas, and hydrangeas make natural companions; keep the soil from drying, and mulch to mimic the woodland floor.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057897214067,"sku":"ILLI-FLOR-HALL-COME-01G","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-1371.jpg?v=1720138953"},{"product_id":"illicium-mexicanum-x-floridanum-album-woodland-ruby","title":"Illicium mexicanum x floridanum album 'Woodland Ruby'","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe anise trees, genus Illicium, are aromatic broadleaf evergreens of the star-anise family, Schisandraceae, prized as some of the finest flowering shrubs for shade. 'Woodland Ruby' is a Woodlanders introduction and one of the showiest of the group, a hybrid between the Mexican anise, Illicium mexicanum, and a white-flowered form of the native Florida anise, Illicium floridanum. The cross carries ruby-pink, star-shaped flowers larger than those of either parent, dangling from long slender stalks over glossy, aromatic evergreen leaves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe great virtue of 'Woodland Ruby' is bloom. Where most anise trees flower in a single spring flush, this hybrid opens ruby-pink stars over an extended season, spring into fall, and carries them on four-inch pedicels that let the flowers hang free and show. The mexicanum parent lends both the long bloom and a greater tolerance of sun, so 'Woodland Ruby' takes more light than the shade-bound Florida anise as long as the roots stay moist. As with all ornamental anises, the aromatic foliage is toxic if eaten and unrelated to culinary star anise, and deer accordingly leave the plant alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe hybrid was raised and introduced by Woodlanders, a cross that has become one of the nursery's best-known contributions to Southern shade gardening. Combining the long bloom and sun tolerance of the Mexican species with the hardiness and grace of the native, 'Woodland Ruby' offers a longer, richer flowering season than either parent alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUse 'Woodland Ruby' as a flowering evergreen for part to full shade, or for filtered sun where the soil can be kept moist, as a specimen, a shade border anchor, or an informal screen. The long season of ruby stars brings color to shaded ground for months, and the glossy foliage holds structure year-round. Ferns, hostas, hydrangeas, camellias, and other shade companions set the plant off; keep the soil moist and fertile, and mulch to hold it.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057897279603,"sku":"ILLI-MEXI-WOOD-RUBY-01G","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/0F14389E-ED03-498A-9083-4E61419B39AA.jpg?v=1773697819"},{"product_id":"illicium-floridanum-variegated","title":"Illicium floridanum (variegated)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe anise trees, genus Illicium, are aromatic broadleaf evergreens of the star-anise family, Schisandraceae, their Latin name meaning an allurement, for the spicy scent of the leaves. Illicium floridanum, the Florida anise, is a Southeastern native of shaded streambanks and moist ravines from Georgia to Louisiana, valued as one of the finest flowering evergreens for shade. This is a variegated selection, carrying the usual two-inch, starfish-shaped maroon flowers over foliage marked with a subtle, quiet green-on-green variegation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe variegation is understated, a soft patterning of lighter and darker green rather than the bold cream or gold of a splashier plant, and it gives the dark evergreen foliage a gentle, dappled depth in the shade. The crushed leaves are anise-scented, characteristic of the genus, and, as with every Florida anise, the foliage and fruit are toxic if eaten and unrelated in use to culinary star anise. That toxicity is also why deer leave the plant alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis form was found in northwest Florida by Steve Riefler, who noticed the pairing of the deep maroon-purple flowers with the subtle leaf variegation, an uncommon combination in a native shrub. Like the wild species, the plant builds into a medium, rounded evergreen of eight to ten feet, adaptable to most garden soils that are not too dry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSite the variegated Florida anise in shade or semi-shade with moist, rich soil, where the quiet foliage patterning and dark flowers can be seen up close. Use as a woodland specimen, a shaded foundation shrub, or an evergreen screen in a damp, shady spot, and let the subtle variegation lighten a dim corner. Ferns, hostas, hellebores, and native azaleas make fitting company; keep the ground evenly moist and mulched.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057897377907,"sku":"ILLI-FLOR-VARI-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-119.jpg?v=1720138959"},{"product_id":"illicium-floridanum","title":"Illicium floridanum","description":"\u003cp\u003eIllicium floridanum, the Florida anise, is a lush evergreen shrub of the southern woods, prized for glossy, dark green leaves that release a clean anise or licorice scent when crushed. In mid-spring the plant hangs itself with curious flowers, two inches across and shaped like deep maroon starfish, their many narrow petals radiating from the center. Dense, shade-loving, and richly aromatic in leaf, Florida anise brings a bold, tropical-looking evergreen presence to a shady garden.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe flowers hold a curious secret of their own. Where the crushed leaves smell sweetly of anise, the blooms carry an odd, fishy odor that draws the flies and beetles that pollinate them, which has earned the plant the affectionate nickname stinkbush. A more important caution belongs on the label as well: despite the name and the anise-scented foliage, Florida anise is not the source of the star anise used in cooking, that is a different species, and every part of this plant is toxic and should never be eaten.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the wild, Florida anise grows in the rich, moist, shaded ravines and stream banks of the Gulf coastal plain, from the Florida panhandle across to Louisiana, an understory shrub of cool, damp, low places. That heritage tells the gardener exactly what the plant wants: shade, rich acid soil, and steady moisture, the opposite of a hot, dry border. Deer, put off by the aromatic, toxic foliage, leave the plant alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGive Illicium floridanum part to full shade in moist, rich, acid soil, and use the shrub as a bold evergreen for a woodland garden, a shady border, a screen in the shade, or a damp low spot where little else will thrive. The dense foliage screens and softens, the maroon flowers intrigue, and the crushed leaves scent the hand of anyone who brushes past. For a native, deer-proof, aromatic evergreen for shade, Florida anise is a Southern classic.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057897508979,"sku":"ILLI-FLOR-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/Illiciumfloridanum.jpg?v=1784325819"},{"product_id":"illicium-henryi","title":"Illicium henryi","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe anise trees, genus Illicium, are aromatic broadleaf evergreens of the star-anise family, Schisandraceae, their name from the Latin illicium, an allurement, for the scent of the leaves. Illicium henryi, the Henry anise, is the Chinese member of the group, a handsome, dense, pyramidal to rounded evergreen with waxy flowers in shades of coppery pink to deep carmine red and aromatic, glossy foliage. The plant honors Augustine Henry, the great Irish plant collector who botanized central China at the close of the nineteenth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHenry anise owes its place in American gardens largely to Woodlanders, who introduced the plant to the trade here after obtaining stock from the famous Hillier Nurseries in England. Much admired in the Woodlanders garden over the years, Henry anise has since become a little more widely grown, though the plant remains uncommon, a connoisseur's evergreen for the shade.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe flowers are the draw, up to twenty narrow tepals apiece in a rich pink to red, waxy and star-like, carried in spring against dark evergreen leaves. As with the other ornamental anises, the aromatic foliage is not the culinary star anise, and the plant is best enjoyed for looks and scent rather than any use in the kitchen. The same aromatic oils that scent the leaves keep browsing deer at bay.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGive Henry anise shade or semi-shade and good soil that stays moist but drains well, and the plant builds slowly into a clean, dense evergreen of eight to twelve feet. Use as a specimen, a shade screen, or a refined evergreen anchor in a woodland border, where the waxy spring flowers can be admired at close range. Camellias, ferns, hydrangeas, and other broadleaf evergreens make fitting company in the same cool, shaded ground.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057897738355,"sku":"ILLI-HENR-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-120.jpg?v=1720138967"},{"product_id":"illicium-anisatum","title":"Illicium anisatum","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe anise trees, genus Illicium, are aromatic broadleaf evergreens of the star-anise family, Schisandraceae, named from the Latin illicium, an allurement, for the spicy scent the crushed leaves give off. Illicium anisatum is the Japanese anise, called shikimi in its homeland, a glossy, upright evergreen shrub or small tree with leathery, anise-scented leaves and pale creamy-yellow, star-shaped flowers in earliest spring.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFew garden plants carry so much ceremony. In Japan the branches and evergreen leaves of shikimi are held sacred, offered at Buddhist altars, temples, and graves, and the dried leaves are ground and burned as incense, a use tied to the way insects avoid the plant and the cut foliage stays fresh. That toxicity is real: Illicium anisatum contains anisatin and related compounds and is poisonous if eaten, unlike the culinary Chinese star anise, Illicium verum, with which the plant has sometimes been dangerously confused. Grow shikimi for beauty and scent, not for the kitchen.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUncommon in American gardens, Japanese anise has often been muddled with the native Illicium parviflorum, which has been widely sold and even mislabeled under this name in botanic gardens, though the shared anise fragrance is about where the resemblance ends. The true shikimi is a denser, glossier plant, slow and clean, building to twelve or fifteen feet in time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGive Japanese anise a semi-shaded spot with good, moist, but well-drained soil, and the plant repays it with year-round polished evergreen structure. Use as a specimen, a screen, or an anchor in a woodland or courtyard planting, where the early flowers and aromatic leaves can be met at close range. The toxic, fragrant foliage that keeps insects and browsing deer away makes shikimi an easy, trouble-free evergreen. Ferns, hellebores, and camellias make fitting companions in the same shade.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057897803891,"sku":"ILLI-ANIS-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-115.jpg?v=1720138971"},{"product_id":"illicium-mexicanum","title":"Illicium mexicanum","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Mexican Illicium is a close relative of the southeastern native \u003cem\u003eIllicium floridanum\u003c\/em\u003e, and the differences are worth having. The leaves are longer and somewhat more pointed, glossy and aromatic when bruised. The flowers are slightly larger and a deeper red, with the same many-strapped starry outline, and where Florida anise is largely finished by late spring these carry on through summer. The habit is an evergreen small tree or large shrub, ten to twelve feet in time, upright and narrow at four to six feet across, holding good dark foliage the whole year in the shade where the plant belongs.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHow this species reached American gardens is a genuinely good story, and it is not ours. A number of years ago a government employee in Washington, D.C. named Harold Hopkins found the native \u003cem\u003eIllicium floridanum\u003c\/em\u003e on a visit to his home area in Mississippi. He brought a sample to the U.S. National Arboretum to be identified. He then studied up on the genus \u003cem\u003eIllicium\u003c\/em\u003e and discovered that there was a species in Mexico which was unknown in the U.S. He established contact and communication with someone in Mexico who was able to collect the plant from the wild and send it to him. He delivered it to the National Arboretum and they shared it with Woodlanders, where it was propagated and offered to the American gardening public. It was subsequently collected in Mexico by Yucca-Do Nursery in Texas. Learning that \u003cem\u003eIllicium\u003c\/em\u003e was related to \u003cem\u003eMagnolia\u003c\/em\u003e, Mr. Hopkins went on to study \u003cem\u003eMagnolia\u003c\/em\u003e and became president of the American Magnolia Society.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA word on names and on safety. Some authorities now treat the Mexican plants as a southern extreme of \u003cem\u003eIllicium floridanum\u003c\/em\u003e rather than a separate species, which is why you will occasionally see this sold under that name; the horticultural differences hold up regardless of where the line is finally drawn. As for the anise in the common name, it refers only to the scent of the crushed leaf. This is not the culinary star anise, which is \u003cem\u003eIllicium verum\u003c\/em\u003e and the single member of the genus that is safe to eat. The rest, including this one, carry neurotoxic sesquiterpene lactones, and no part of the plant should ever be used in food or tea. Grow it for the flowers and the foliage and leave the kitchen out of it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlant in shade or semi-shade in good soil that drains but never dries out hard; this is a woodland understory plant and full sun scorches the leaves and bleaches the gloss out of them. The narrow upright habit suits a shaded foundation, a woodland path, a courtyard, or a spot beside a north door where the evergreen structure earns its keep in winter. Deer leave the whole genus alone, which in most southern gardens is reason enough on its own. Good with \u003cem\u003eDanae racemosa\u003c\/em\u003e, hellebores, autumn fern, \u003cem\u003eAspidistra\u003c\/em\u003e, and hydrangeas. Give a mulch each autumn and otherwise very little is asked of you.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057897934963,"sku":"ILLI-ME-ICAN-01G","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/DETA-121.jpg?v=1720138973"},{"product_id":"illicium-floridanum-var-album","title":"Illicium floridanum var. album","description":"\u003cp\u003eIllicium floridanum var. album is the uncommon white-flowered form of the Florida anise, all the beauty and aromatic foliage of the species, with starry spring flowers of clean white in place of the usual deep maroon. Against the glossy, dark green, anise-scented leaves, the pale, many-petaled stars seem to float, lighting up a shady corner where the darker form would simply recede. A choice and seldom-seen selection, the white Florida anise is a connoisseur's evergreen for shade.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs with all the Florida anises, there are two scents to know. The leaves, crushed, smell cleanly of anise or licorice, while the flowers carry a faint fishy odor that lures the flies and beetles that pollinate them. And the same caution applies: for all the anise in the foliage, this is not the star anise of the spice rack, which comes from a different species, and every part of this plant is toxic and must never be eaten.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLike the maroon form, the white Florida anise belongs to the moist, shaded woods of the Gulf coastal plain, and asks for the same in the garden: part to full shade, rich acid soil, and steady moisture, well away from hot, dry exposure. Aromatic and toxic, the foliage is reliably passed over by deer. Evergreen and dense, the plant holds a full, glossy canopy the year round and slowly builds into a rounded, well-clothed shrub.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSet Illicium floridanum var. album where the pale flowers can brighten the shade, in a woodland garden, a shady border, or a screen beneath taller trees, in moist, rich, acid soil. The white blooms and light-catching foliage lift dim spaces the darker anises cannot, and the aromatic leaves reward a passing hand. For a rare, deer-proof, white-flowered evergreen for shade, few plants are as quietly distinctive.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057898033267,"sku":"ILLI-FLOR-ALBU-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/Illiciumfloridanumvar.albumJCRA.jpg?v=1784326058"},{"product_id":"illicium-parviflorum-florida-sunshine","title":"Illicium parviflorum 'Florida Sunshine'","description":"\u003cp\u003eIllicium parviflorum, the Ocala or small anise, is a rare Florida endemic, an aromatic evergreen of the star-anise family, Schisandraceae, tougher and more sun-tolerant than its showier cousin the Florida anise. 'Florida Sunshine' is the selection that made the species famous: a form whose foliage glows chartreuse-gold through spring and summer, holding the anise scent of the genus in leaves that light up a shaded corner.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe real show comes with the cold. As the weather cools in fall the gold brightens to a near-screaming yellow, then softens toward parchment by midwinter, and at the same time the upper stems flush a brilliant red that plays against the pale leaves. Few evergreens do anything so dramatic in January. The winter foliage will scorch in strong sun, so light or part shade keeps the color clean, a stunning beacon in the cold-season garden.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'Florida Sunshine' was selected and introduced by Tony Avent of Plant Delights Nursery, grown from three golden seedlings of the wild species that Avent brought back from a 2000 visit to the Florida plantsman Charles Webb. After several years of evaluation one plant was chosen and named, and the selection has become one of the most popular gold-leaved shrubs in Southern gardens. As with the other ornamental anises, the aromatic foliage is toxic if eaten and unrelated to culinary star anise.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUse 'Florida Sunshine' as a living light source in shade: at the back of a woodland border, against dark evergreens, beside a path, or massed to lead the eye through a shady garden. The gold reads from across the yard, and the red winter stems reward a close look. Give light to part shade and moist, well-drained soil, and pair with ferns, hostas, dark-leaved hollies, and hellebores that set off the glowing foliage. Deer leave the aromatic leaves alone.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Woodlanders","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42057898295411,"sku":"ILLI-PARV-FLOR-SUNS-01G","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0605\/7505\/5987\/files\/44A56333-9483-4C59-8F59-4297C27F791C.jpg?v=1727269766"}],"url":"https:\/\/woodlanders.net\/collections\/illicium.oembed","provider":"Woodlanders","version":"1.0","type":"link"}