WINTERACEJE. 



Nat. syst. ed.2. p. 17. 



ILLICIUM. 



Sepals 3-6, petaloid. Carpels capsular, arranged in a star- 

 like manner, opening at the upper end, 1 -seeded. Seed shining. 

 Evergreen, very smooth, shrubs. 



56. I. floridanum Ellis inphil trans. 1770. 1. 12. Bot Mag. 

 t. 4-39. Bigelow med. hot. iii. t. 48. DC. prodr. i. 77. Thickets 

 in the country bordering the Gulf of Mexico on the north. 



A shrub or small tree. Leaves scattered, or in tufts, on short 

 petioles, evergreen, oval-lanceolate, slightly acuminate, entire, smooth 

 on both sides, and firm or fleshy. The flowers proceed from the sides 

 of the branches at the axils of the last year's leaves, on slender, nodding 

 peduncles, an inch or two long ; when fully expanded they are of a 

 dark, purplish crimson. Calyx deciduous. Petals linear, obtuse, in 

 three rows, about nine in a row, the uppermost row ascending, the 

 lowermost descending, and broader or more spatulate. Stamens 30 or 

 more, diverging, flat, depressed, with the anthers recurved; pollen white. 

 Ovaries 12 or more, roundish-rhomboidal, compressed, and arranged in 

 a circular manner ; styles short, recurved, pubescent on the inside. 

 Bark and leaves aromatic and spicy ; effects analogous to those of other 

 aromatic barks. 



57. I. anisatum Lour. fl. cock. 353. Gcerin. carp. i. t. 69. 

 Provinces of China west of Canton. (Star Anise.) 



A shrub about 8 feet high ; branches smooth, spreading. Leaves ob- 

 ovate, obtuse, entire, smooth, small, crowded, stalked. Flowers yellow, 

 lateral, solitary, stalked. Sepals 6. Petals numerous, spreading. 

 Stamens about 30, placed on the receptacle. Ovaries 8, or more, each 

 with a very short style. Follicles usually 8, ovate-lanceolate, hard 

 and woody, placed horizontally in a circle, 1-seeded ; seeds ovate, 

 compressed, brown. The whole plant, especially the fruit, has a 

 pleasant aromatic flavour of anise ; sweetish and rather pungent. It is 

 reckoned a stomachic and carminative among the Chinese, and is used 

 as a spice in their cooker)'. According to Siebold, this is not the 

 Skimi of Kaempfer, which is chiefly employed as a perfume by the 

 priests of China and Japan, but a quite distinct species. He calls the 

 former Illicium religiosum. The fruit is aromatic and carminative, and 

 by distillation yields an oil which has most of the properties of oil of 

 anise, for which it is often substituted. It is chiefly used in the 

 fabrication of liqueurs. 

 25 



