Am.  Jour.  Pharm 
Aug.,  1881. 
I    Illicium  Religiosum  and  III,  Anisatum. 
415 
Distinctions  in  odor,  taste,  chemical  composition  (the  different 
amounts  of  fats  present,  the  poisonous  constituent,  etc.),  and  physiolo- 
gical action,  cannot,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  systematic  botanist, 
contribute  to  characterize  two  plants  as  different  species,  since  these 
properties,  which  possibly  are  due  only  to  quantitative  differences, 
may  depend  upon  climatic  conditions.  Yamaraoto  Boyo,  author  of 
the  "  Hiakushinko (1843),  remarks  upon  this  as  follows:  ^' The 
Japanese  fruit  resembles  exactly  the  ^  hakkaku  uikio '  (true  star-anise) 
except  in  the  smell ;  this  difference  is,  however,  a  result  of  the  influ- 
ence of  locality  and  climate,  exactly  as  in  the  case  of  Chinese  cinna- 
momum.  Planted  in  Japan  this  tree  loses  its  pungent  taste  and 
acquires  moreover  the  aroma  of  ^  shikimi.'  There  remain  conse- 
quently only  the  few  morphological  differences. 
Illicium  Religiosum.— Ill,  Unripe  Fruit.    IV,  Ripe  Fruit.    VI,  Seeds. 
VIII,  Section  tlirough  tlie  testa. 
Illicium  Anisatum.— V,  Fruit.    VII,  Seeds.    IX,  Section  ttirough  the 
testa. 
The  author  refers  to  the  characters  given  by  different  writers  for 
distinguishing  the  fruits  of  the  two  trees,  and  shows  that  the  differ- 
ences are  probably  connected  with  the  age,  the  manner  and  time  of 
collection,  the  conveyance,  climate,  etc.  Meanwhile  we  cannot  go  fur- 
ther than  to  consider  the  Japanese  ^'shikimi  no  ki"  as  a  poisonous — 
probably  only  as  a  more  poisonous — variety  of  Illicium  anisatum, 
Loureiro. 
But  from  a  hygienic  point  of  view  a  distinction  must  be  made 
between  the  Japanese  and  Cochin  China  star-anise  as  a  commercial 
drug.  For  pharmacognostically  distinguishing  the  true  star-anise 
from  the  fruit  of  "  shikimi  the  following  characters  can  be  taken  in 
consideration : 
