Description
Illicium floridanum, commonly called purple anise, is an upright, rounded, aromatic, evergreen shrub that grows to 6-10′ tall. It is native to wet soils in low hammocks, wooded ravines, marshy areas and stream peripheries from northern Florida and Georgia along the coastal plain to Louisiana. Smooth, glossy, elliptic, dark olive-green leaves (to 6″ long) emit an anise-like aroma when crushed. Nodding, dark red flowers (to 2″ diameter), each with 20-30 strap-shaped petals, bloom in spring (April-May). Flower aroma is malodorous. Fruit is a star-shaped cluster of follicles. Purple anise is protected in Florida as a threatened species.
