414  Illicium  Heiigiosum  and  III.  Amsatum.  | 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm 
Aug.,  1881. 
All  parts  of  the  plant  are  looked  upon  as  poisonous  by  the  Japan- 
ese, especially  the  fruit. 
The  ^'shikinii  no  ki  "  is  indigenous  in  China,  and  grows  there  also 
in  the  valleys  and  on  the  mountains.  It  is  called  by  the  Chinese 
^^Mang-thsao"  (many  =  mad;  thsao  —  herb:  Jap.  ''moso^^),  because 
it  is  said  to  cause  paroxysms  of  frenzy  in  human  beings. 
The  different  parts  of  the  plant  are  used  in  China  similarly  as  in 
Japan.  According  to  the  "  Penthsaokang-mu  "  (Chinese  Natural  His- 
tory), the  dried  leaves  are  used  in  medicine.  Powdered  and  mixed 
with  rice  or  barley  flour,  they  are  used  to  kill  fish,  which,  however, 
form  an  innocuous  food. 
True  Stae-anise. — Illicium  anisatum,  ioi^r. ;  Anisum  })eregri- 
num,  Bauh.  Chin.  "  Hwai  liiang  "  (Jap.  Kai-Ko  ") ;  Pah-ko- 
hwui-hiang    (Jap.  "  Hakkaku  uikio  "  =  octagonal  anise). 
"  Ta  hwui  hiang  "  (Jap.  Dai  uikio  "  =  greater  anise,  to  distin- 
guish it  from  "  Sho  uikio  "  =  smaller  anise  =  Foeniculum  vulgare  or 
Anethum  graveolens,  in  Jap.  "  Inondo,"  and  Chin.  Jira").^ 
In  Japan  the  true  star-anise  is  also  called  Haku  uikio  "  (=  for- 
eign anise). 
This  plant  is  indigenous  in  Cochin  China,  Siani  and  the  southwest 
provinces  of  China,  as  Yunnan.  The  fruit  of  this  plant,  the  true  star- 
anise,  is  imported  into  China  and  Japan.  To  Europe  and  India  it 
is  generally  sent  via  Hong-kong. 
According^  to  Pondot,  the  best  kind  is  brouo^ht  from  Foukien  to 
Canton  and  from  thence  exported  through  Tsiouen-tchou-fou.  The 
fruit  is  also  collected  in  Kiang-si  and  Kuang-tung.  A  perfectly  exact 
description  of  this  plant  is  at  present  wanting.  It  is  said  (Loureiro) 
that  it  differs  from  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  Illicium  religiosum, 
Sieb.,  in  its  infererior  height  (about  8  feet),  its  smaller  and  more  oval 
leaves,  which  are  not,  like  the  skikimi,"  acuminate  at  both  ends, 
but  rounded,  and  in  its  greater  number  of  stamens  (up  to  30).  The 
fruit  of  the  true  star- anise  differs  from  that  of  the  Japanese  in  its  dis- 
tinctly sweetish  agreeable,  strong  anise-  or  fennel-like  odor  and  taste, 
and  further  in  not  being  poisonous.^ 
^  Older  naturalists  probably  also  name  Foeniculum  vulgare  (Jap.  "  Kure- 
no-omo")  "  Dai-ui-kio."  Li-si-chin,  a  Chinese  naturalist,  calls  only  the 
fruit  of  Foeniculum  vulgare  exported  from  N^ehia  "  Dai-ui-kio  "  ;  all  other 
commercial  kinds  of  F.  vulgare  he  calls  "  Sho-iii-kio." 
^  The  Leeuwarden  Commission  states  upon  this  point  that  the  injection 
of  the  extract  of  the  true  star-anise  into  frogs  and  rabbits  did  not  induce 
the  slightest  abnormal  symptoms. 
