Yellow anisetree is an evergreen shrub or small tree native to Florida, grown for its fragrant, licorice-scented foliage and flowers. It thrives in moist soil and is valued as an easy hedge or windbreak plant.
Family
Schisandraceae (Schisandr family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Part shade, Full sun
Water
Keep soil consistently moist, especially in its first year.
Soil
Moist, fertile, well-drained loam or sandy loam; tolerates wet ground.
Temperature
Hardy in USDA zones 6-9; protect from hard freezes below about -10 °C.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Toxic: The plant is poisonous and cannot be used as a spice like star anise; avoid eating any part.
Native range
Florida, Dominican Rep.
Climate
wet tropical
About
Illicium parviflorum, commonly known as yellow anisetree, yellow-anise, swamp star-anise, and small anise tree, is a species of flowering plant in the family Schisandraceae, or alternately, the Illiciaceae. It is native to Florida in the United States. It historically occurred in Georgia as well, but it has been extirpated from the state.
Where it grows
The plant grows in moist soils in several types of habitat, such as floodplains and hammocks, and near swamps and waterways. Associates include Atlantic white cypress (Chamaecyparis thyoides), Florida hobblebush (Agarista populifolia), common palmetto (Sabal palmetto), bush palmetto (Sabal minor), needle palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix), sweetbay (Magnolia virginiana), and swampbay (Persea palustris).
Uses
This plant is cultivated as a fragrant and attractive if not very showy ornamental, and can be pruned and shaped to form hedges and windbreaks. It can become very dense as roots continue to send up new shoots, and branches can root where they come in contact with the soil. It is considered easy to grow and does not have many pest problems. It can sprawl up to 4.5 meters wide if not maintained. If the lower branches are removed it can be sculpted into a tree shape. It is commercially available and inexpensive.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Illicium parviflorum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.