Illicium

Last updated

anisetree
or star anise
Illicium verum in HDR.jpg
fruits of star anise (Illicium verum)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Order: Austrobaileyales
Family: Schisandraceae
Genus: Illicium
L.
Type species
Illicium anisatum
Illicium floridanum Illicium floridanum 1 (scott.zona).jpg
Illicium floridanum
Illicium henryi Illicium henryi (1).jpg
Illicium henryi
Illicium anisatum in Kohler's Medicinal Plants Illicium anisatum - Kohler-s Medizinal-Pflanzen-075.jpg
Illicium anisatum in Köhler's Medicinal Plants

Illicium is a genus of flowering plants treated as part of the family Schisandraceae, [1] or alternately as the sole genus of the Illiciaceae. [2] It has a disjunct distribution, with most species native to eastern Asia and several in parts of North America, including the southeastern United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean. [3] General common names include star anise [4] and anisetree. [1] The genus name comes from the Latin illicere ("to allure"). [4]

Contents

Description

Illicium species are evergreen shrubs and small trees. The leaves are alternately arranged and borne on petioles. The blades are glandular and fragrant. The flowers are solitary. They have few to many tepals in two or three rows, the inner ones like petals and the outer ones often smaller and more like bracts. A few to many stamens and pistils are at the center. The fruit is an aggregate of follicles arranged in a star-shaped whorl. One seed is in each follicle, released when the follicle dehisces. The seed has a thick, oily endosperm. [5]

Biology

These are plants of moist understory, adapted to shady habitat, and some species are so sensitive to light that too much sunlight causes them significant stress, manifesting in chlorosis and necrosis of the leaves. [6]

Uses

Several species are cultivated as ornamental plants for their flowers, foliage, and fragrance, leading to the development of several cultivars. [7] Many taxa can only be grown in low-light situations. [6]

The essential oils of several species are used as flavorings and carminatives; however, the oils of I. anisatum and I. floridanum are toxic. I. verum, the common star anise, is used to flavor food and liquor. Its fruit is a traditional Chinese medicine called bājiǎo huíxiāng (八角茴香), which is used to treat abdominal pain and vomiting. [5]

Diversity

Illicium is a notably difficult genus to taxonomically classify. Many of the currently recognized species lack distinguishing characters, and treatments tend to list many synonyms. Additionally, herbarium material is often poorly preserved or scarce. [8]

Species include
[9]
  1. Illicium angustisepalum - S China
  2. Illicium anisatum – Japan, South Korea, Taiwan
  3. Illicium arborescens - Taiwan
  4. Illicium brevistylum - Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Yunnan
  5. Illicium burmanicum - Yunnan, Myanmar
  6. Illicium cubense - Cuba
  7. Illicium difengpi - Guangxi
  8. Illicium dunnianum - S China
  9. Illicium ekmanii  
  10. Illicium floridanum - United States (FL GA AL MS LA) [10]
  11. Illicium griffithii - Tibet, Bhutan, Arunachal Pradesh
  12. Illicium guajaibonense - Cuba
  13. Illicium henryi - S China
  14. Illicium hottense
  15. Illicium jiadifengpi - S China
  16. Illicium lanceolatum - S China
  17. Illicium leiophyllum - Hong Kong
  18. Illicium macranthum - Yunnan
  19. Illicium majus - S China, Vietnam, Myanmar
  20. Illicium merrillianum - Yunnan, Myanmar
  21. Illicium micranthum - Yunnan
  22. Illicium modestum - Yunnan
  23. Illicium pachyphyllum - Guangxi
  24. Illicium parviflorum – yellow anise - United States (FL GA SC) [11]
  25. Illicium parvifolium
  26. Illicium petelotii - Yunnan, Vietnam
  27. Illicium philippinense - Philippines, Taiwan
  28. Illicium ridleyanum
  29. Illicium simonsii - S China, Assam, Myanmar
  30. Illicium stapfii
  31. Illicium sumatranum
  32. Illicium tashiroi - Taiwan, Nansei-shoto
  33. Illicium tenuifolium - Vietnam
  34. Illicium ternstroemioides - Fujian, Hainan
  35. Illicium tsaii - Yunnan
  36. Illicium verum – star anise, Chinese star-anise, staranise tree - Guangxi
  37. Illicium wardii - Yunnan, Myanmar

Related Research Articles

<i>Bambusa</i> Genus of grasses

Bambusa is a large genus of clumping bamboos. Most species of Bambusa are rather large, with numerous branches emerging from the nodes, and one or two much larger than the rest. The branches can be as long as 11 m (35 ft).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hornbeam</span> Genus of flowering plants

Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the plant genus Carpinus in the family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

<i>Illicium verum</i> Star anise, a medium-sized evergreen tree native to northeast Vietnam and southeast China

Illicium verum is a medium-sized evergreen tree native to northeast Vietnam and South China. It is a spice that closely resembles anise in flavor and is obtained from the star-shaped pericarps of the fruit of I. verum which are harvested just before ripening. Star anise oil is a highly fragrant oil used in cooking, perfumery, soaps, toothpastes, mouthwashes, and skin creams. Until 2012, when they switched to using a bacterial source, Roche Pharmaceuticals used up to 90% of the world's annual star anise crop to produce shikimic acid, a chemical intermediate used in the synthesis of oseltamivir (Tamiflu).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austrobaileyales</span> Order of flowering plants

Austrobaileyales is an order of flowering plants consisting of about 100 species of woody plants growing as trees, shrubs and lianas. The best-known species is Illicium verum, commonly known as star anise. The order belongs to the group of basal angiosperms, the ANA grade, which diverged earlier from the remaining flowering plants. Austrobaileyales is sister to all remaining extant angiosperms outside the ANA grade.

<i>Schisandra</i> Family of shrubs

Schisandra, the magnolia vines, is a genus of twining shrubs that generally climb on other vegetation. Various authors have included the plants in the Illiciaceae

<i>Arisaema</i> Genus of plants

Arisaema is a large and diverse genus of the flowering plant family Araceae. The largest concentration of species is in China and Japan, with other species native to other parts of southern Asia as well as eastern and central Africa, Mexico and eastern North America. Asiatic species are often called cobra lilies, while western species are often called jack-in-the-pulpit; both names refer to the distinctive appearance of the flower, which consists of an erect central spadix rising from a spathe.

<i>Triadica</i> Genus of flowering plants

Triadica is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae first described as a genus in 1790. It is native to eastern southeastern, and southern Asia.

<i>Illicium anisatum</i> Species of plant

Illicium anisatum, with common names Japanese star anise, Aniseed tree, and sacred Anise tree, known in Japan as shikimi, is a tree closely related to the Chinese star anise. Since it is highly toxic, the fruit is not edible; instead, the dried and powdered leaves are burned as incense in Japan. Its branches and evergreen leaves are considered highly sacred by Japanese Buddhists due to aversion from insects and their ability to remain fresh after pruning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illiciaceae</span> Extinct family of flowering plants

Illiciaceae A.C.Sm. was a family of flowering plants recognized in a number of systems of plant taxonomy. The Illiciaceae is not recognized as a distinct family by the APG III system of plant taxonomy, the most well accepted system in use today.

<i>Phoebe</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants

Phoebe is a genus of evergreen trees and shrubs belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. There are 75 accepted species in the genus, distributed in tropical and subtropical Asia and New Guinea. 35 species occur in China, of which 27 are endemic. The first description of the genus was of the type species P. lanceolata made in 1836 by Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck in Systema Laurinarum, p. 98.

<i>Aletris</i> Genus of flowering plants

Aletris, the colicroot, colicweed, crow corn, or unicorn root, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Nartheciaceae, native to North America and to eastern and southeastern Asia, especially China. It was used as a component in Lydia Pinkham's original Vegetable Compound.

<i>Anodendron</i> Genus of flowering plants

Anodendron is a genus of plant in the family Apocynaceae first described as a genus in 1844. It is native to most of tropical Asia: China, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and some islands of the western Pacific.

Illicium ternstroemioides is a species of tree in the family Schisandraceae, or alternately, the Illiciaceae. It is native to northern Vietnam and Hainan Island in China.

<i>Illicium floridanum</i> Species of plant

Illicium floridanum is an evergreen shrub native to the Gulf Coast area of the Southern United States, from Florida to Louisiana.

<i>Illicium parviflorum</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merrilactone A</span> Chemical compound

Merrilactone A is one of the four sesquiterpenes that were newly discovered from the fruit of Illicium merrillianum in 2000. Members of the genus Illicium include Chinese star anise, widely used as a spice for flavouring food and beverages, and also poisonous plants such as Japanese star anise. Chemical studies of Illicium have developed rapidly over the last 20 years, and merrilactone A has been shown to have neurotrophic activity in fetal rat cortical neuron cultures. This has led researchers to believe that Merrilactone A may hold therapeutic potential in the treatment of neuro-degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

Star anise refers to Illicium verum Chinese star anise, and the spice derived from it. It can also refer to related poisonous plants:

<i>Dysosma</i> Genus of flowering plants belonging to the barberry family

Dysosma is a group of herbaceous perennials in the Berberidaceae or barberry family described as a genus in 1928. It is native to China and Indochina.

<i>Gomphostemma</i> Genus of flowering plants

Gomphostemma is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae, first described in 1830. It is native to Southeast Asia, China, and the Indian subcontinent.

  1. Gomphostemma aborensisDunn - Arunachal Pradesh
  2. Gomphostemma arbusculumC.Y.Wu - Yunnan
  3. Gomphostemma callicarpoides(Yamam.) Masam. - Taiwan
  4. Gomphostemma chinenseOliv. - Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Jiangxi, Vietnam
  5. Gomphostemma crinitumWall. ex Benth. - Indochina, Yunnan, Assam, Bangladesh
  6. Gomphostemma curtisiiPrain - Malaya, Sumatra, Borneo
  7. Gomphostemma deltodonC.Y.Wu - Yunnan
  8. Gomphostemma dolichobotrysMerr. - Sumatra
  9. Gomphostemma eriocarpumBenth. - southern India
  10. Gomphostemma grandiflorumDoan ex Suddee & A.J.Paton - Vietnam
  11. Gomphostemma hainanenseC.Y.Wu - Hainan
  12. Gomphostemma hemsleyanumPrain ex Collett & Hemsl. - Java, Myanmar
  13. Gomphostemma heyneanumWall. ex Benth. - southern India
  14. Gomphostemma hirsutumWalsingham - Sabah
  15. Gomphostemma inopinatumPrain - Myanmar
  16. Gomphostemma javanicum(Blume) Benth. - Indochina, Andaman Islands, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, Bali, Lombok, Timor, Philippines
  17. Gomphostemma keralensisVivek., Gopalan & R.Ansari. - Kerala
  18. Gomphostemma laceiMukerjee - Myanmar
  19. Gomphostemma latifoliumC.Y.Wu - Yunnan, Guangdong
  20. Gomphostemma leptodonDunn - Guangxi, Vietnam
  21. Gomphostemma lucidumWall. ex Benth. - Indochina, Assam, Bangladesh, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan
  22. Gomphostemma mastersiiBenth. ex Hook.f. - Assam, Bangladesh, Thailand
  23. Gomphostemma melissifoliumWall. ex Benth. - Assam, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal
  24. Gomphostemma microcalyxPrain - Borneo, Malaya, Sumatra
  25. Gomphostemma microdonDunn - Yunnan, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam
  26. Gomphostemma nayariiA.S.Chauhan - Assam
  27. Gomphostemma niveumHook.f. - Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Vietnam
  28. Gomphostemma nutansHook.f. - Assam, Myanmar
  29. Gomphostemma ovatumWall. ex Benth. - Assam, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal
  30. Gomphostemma parviflorumWall. ex Benth. - Assam, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Yunnan, Indochina, Borneo, Java, Sumatra
  31. Gomphostemma pedunculatumBenth. ex Hook.f. - Assam, Yunnan, Vietnam
  32. Gomphostemma pseudocrinitumC.Y.Wu - Guangxi
  33. Gomphostemma salarkhanianumKhanam & M.A.Hassan - Sylhet District in Bangladesh
  34. Gomphostemma scortechiniiPrain - Myanmar, Thailand, Malaya
  35. Gomphostemma stellatohirsutumC.Y.Wu - Yunnan
  36. Gomphostemma strobilinum Wall. ex Benth. - Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam
  37. Gomphostemma sulcatumC.Y.Wu - Yunnan
  38. Gomphostemma thomsoniiBenth. ex Hook.f. - Assam
  39. Gomphostemma velutinumBenth. - Assam, Bangladesh
  40. Gomphostemma wallichiiPrain - Assam, Myanmar, Thailand
<i>Microlepia</i> Genus of ferns

Microlepia is a genus of ferns in the family Dennstaedtiaceae described as a genus in 1836. Most of the species are native to Asia, with many endemic to China, although a few species occur also in Australia, Africa, the West Indies, Latin America, and various oceanic islands.

References

  1. 1 2 Illicium. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
  2. ↑ Watson, L. and M. J. Dallwitz. 1992 onwards. Illiciaceae Van Tiegh. Archived 2007-01-03 at the Wayback Machine The Families of Flowering Plants. Version: 19 August 2013.
  3. ↑ Oh, I. C., et al. (2003). Evolution of Illicium (Illiciaceae): mapping morphological characters on the molecular tree. Plant Systematics and Evolution 240(1-4), 175–209.
  4. 1 2 Illicium. Flora of North America.
  5. 1 2 Illiciaceae. Flora of North America.
  6. 1 2 Griffin, J. J., et al. (2004). Photosynthesis, chlorophyll fluorescence, and carbohydrate content of Illicium taxa grown under varied irradiance. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 129(1), 46–53.
  7. ↑ Ashburn, D. Illicium belongs in Southern gardens. Archived 2013-09-08 at the Wayback Machine Cooperative Extension. North Carolina State University. 2006.
  8. ↑ Morris, Ashley B.; Bell, Charles D.; Clayton, Joshua W.; Judd, Walter S.; Soltis, Douglas E.; Soltis, Pamela S. (2007). "Phylogeny and Divergence Time Estimation in Illicium with Implications for New World Biogeography". Systematic Botany. 32 (2): 236–249. doi:10.1600/036364407781179734. S2CID   86383852.
  9. ↑ "Illicium L." Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  10. ↑ Biota of North America Program 2013 county distribution map, Illicium floridanum
  11. ↑ Biota of North America Program, 2013 county distribution map, Illicium parviflorum

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.