Illicium parviflorum

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Illicium parviflorum
Yellow anise flower.jpg
Status TNC G2.svg
Imperiled  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Order: Austrobaileyales
Family: Schisandraceae
Genus: Illicium
Species:
I. parviflorum
Binomial name
Illicium parviflorum
Illicium parviflorum range map.png
Natural range

Illicium parviflorum, commonly known as yellow anisetree, [1] yellow-anise, swamp star-anise, [3] and small anise tree, [4] 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. [1]

Contents

Description

This is an evergreen shrub or tree growing up to 7 meters tall, sometimes with several trunks. The wood, foliage, and flowers are fragrant, with a scent similar to licorice. The alternately arranged leaves have leathery, oval blades up to 15 centimeters long. They are dark, shiny green on top with paler, glandular undersides. [1] The flowers are roughly a centimeter wide and have 11 to 14 yellow-green tepals and several stamens and pistils. [3] The fruit is a star-shaped aggregate of up to 13 follicles, each of which releases one shiny brown seed upon dehiscence. [1] [3] It is hardy in the US in zones 6-9. [5]

Ecology

The plant grows in moist soils in several types of habitat, such as floodplains and hammocks, and near swamps and waterways. Associates include Atlantic white cypress (Chamaecyparis thyoides), Florida hobblebush (Agarista populifolia), common palmetto (Sabal palmetto), bush palmetto (Sabal minor), needle palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix), sweetbay (Magnolia virginiana), and swampbay (Persea palustris). [1]

Conservation

The plant is currently known from fewer than 20 occurrences in Central Florida, within Polk, Marion, Lake, Volusia, and Seminole Counties. [1] It is mainly threatened by the loss of its habitat, particularly changes in local hydrology, but it is also sometimes wild-harvested for use in cultivation. [1]

Uses

This plant is cultivated as a fragrant and attractive if not very showy ornamental, and can be pruned and shaped to form hedges and windbreaks. It can become very dense as roots continue to send up new shoots, and branches can root where they come in contact with the soil. It is considered easy to grow and does not have many pest problems. [6] It can sprawl up to 4.5 meters wide if not maintained. If the lower branches are removed it can be sculpted into a tree shape. It is commercially available and inexpensive. [7]

The plant is poisonous and cannot be used as a spice like its congener, star anise. [7]

Etymology

Illicium is derived from Latin and means 'seductive'. The name is in reference to the plant's fragrance. [8]

Parviflorus means 'small-flowered'. [9]

Related Research Articles

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

Trillium is a genus of about fifty flowering plant species in the family Melanthiaceae. Trillium species are native to temperate regions of North America and Asia, with the greatest diversity of species found in the southern Appalachian Mountains in the southeastern United States.

<i>Trillium chloropetalum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium chloropetalum, also known as giant trillium, giant wakerobin, or common trillium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is endemic to the western U.S. state of California, being especially frequent in and around the San Francisco Bay Area.

<i>Trillium erectum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium erectum, the red trillium, also known as wake robin, purple trillium, bethroot, or stinking benjamin, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. The plant takes its common name "wake robin" by analogy with the European robin, which has a red breast heralding spring. Likewise Trillium erectum is a spring ephemeral plant whose life-cycle is synchronized with that of the forests in which it lives. It is native to the eastern United States and eastern Canada from northern Georgia to Quebec and New Brunswick.

<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).

<i>Rubus parviflorus</i> Berry and plant

Rubus parviflorus, commonly called thimbleberry, is a species of Rubus native to northern temperate regions of North America. The plant has large hairy leaves and no thorns. It bears edible red fruit similar in appearance to a raspberry, but shorter, almost hemispherical. It has not been commercially developed for the retail berry market, but is cultivated for landscapes.

<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.

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

Illicium is a genus of flowering plants treated as part of the family Schisandraceae, or alternately as the sole genus of the Illiciaceae. 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. General common names include star anise and anisetree. The genus name comes from the Latin illicere.

<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>Trillium luteum</i> Species of plant

Trillium luteum, the yellow trillium or yellow wakerobin, is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae. It is a member of the Trillium cuneatum complex, a closely related group of sessile-flowered trilliums. The species is endemic to the southeastern United States, especially in and around the Great Smoky Mountains of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina.

<i>Trillium cuneatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium cuneatum, the little sweet betsy, also known as whip-poor-will flower, large toadshade, purple toadshade, and bloody butcher, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is a member of the Trillium cuneatum complex, a subgroup of the sessile-flowered trilliums. It is native to the southeastern United States but is especially common in a region that extends from southern Kentucky through central Tennessee to northern Alabama. In its native habitat, this perennial plant flowers from early March to late April. It is the largest of the eastern sessile-flowered trilliums.

<i>Trillium sessile</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium sessile is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae. The specific epithet sessile means "attached without a distinct stalk", an apparent reference to its stalkless flower. It is commonly known as toadshade or toad trillium. It is also called sessile trillium or sessile-flowered wake-robin, however it is not the only member of the genus with a sessile flower.

Illicium tenuifolium is a species of flowering plant in the family Schisandraceae. It is a tree native to Indo-China and Peninsular Malaysia. It grows in tropical forests, including cloud forests.

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>Trillium albidum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium albidum is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae. It is the only trillium characterized by a stalkless white flower. The species is endemic to the western United States, ranging from central California through Oregon to southwestern Washington. In the San Francisco Bay Area, it is often confused with a white-flowered form of Trillium chloropetalum. In northern Oregon and southwestern Washington, it has a smaller, less conspicuous flower.

<i>Clintonia udensis</i> Species of plant

Clintonia udensis is a species of flowering plant in the lily family Liliaceae. It is the only species of Clintonia native to Asia. It prefers sparsely forested habitat including the alpine forests of the Himalayas.

Illicium guajaibonense is a shrub endemic to Pinar del Rio in Western Cuba. It has only recently been recognized as a distinct species; previously it was considered to be subspecies of I. cubense. I. guajaibonense differs from I. cubense in flower color and other characters.

<i>Trillium maculatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium maculatum, the spotted wakerobin or spotted trillium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is a member of the Trillium cuneatum complex, a closely related group of sessile-flowered trilliums. The species is endemic to the southeastern United States, ranging across Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and northern Florida.

<i>Illicium henryi</i> Chinese anise tree

Illicium henryi, also known by the common names Henry anise tree and Chinese anise tree is a species in the genus Illicium in the family Schisandraceae.

<i>Symphyotrichum parviflorum</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to the Americas

Symphyotrichum parviflorum is an annual and herbaceous plant commonly known as southwestern annual saltmarsh aster. It is native to Mexico, the Caribbean, most of Central America, Ecuador, and the southwestern United States. It is also known by the scientific name Symphyotrichum expansum.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 NatureServe (3 November 2023). "Illicium parviflorum". NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  2. "Illicium parviflorum". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens . Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). "Illicium parviflorum". Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 8 October 2023 via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  4. "Illicium parviflorum". Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 8 October 2023. Illicium parviflorum, commonly called yellow anise tree or small anise tree, ...
  5. "Illicium parviflorum". North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolkit. NC Cooperative Extension. Retrieved 8 October 2023. USDA Plant Hardiness Zone: 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b
  6. Gilman, Edward F (10 August 2015). "Illicium parviflorum Anise". askIFAS. University of Florida. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  7. 1 2 "Illicium parviflorum". Floridata. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  8. Gledhill, David (2008). The Names of Plants (4 ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 211. ISBN   978-0-521-86645-3 . Retrieved 8 October 2023. Illicium Seductive, illicio, illicere, illexi, illectum (the fragrance) (Illiciaceae)
  9. Gledhill, David (2008). The Names of Plants (4 ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 292. ISBN   978-0-521-86645-3 . Retrieved 8 October 2023. parviflorus -a -um small-flowered, parvus-florum