Shrubs or small to medium sized trees, evergreen, glabrous, aromatic with scattered ethereal oil cells. Leaves simple, entire, alternately arranged although often clustered to give appearance of whorls of 3-6 at distal nodes, exstipulate; lamina ovate to elliptic, papyraceous or coriaceous, pinnate venation, apex generally acuminate, base generally attenuate, decurrent; stomata on abaxial surface only, mesogenous, generally paracytic; petioles with groove on adaxial surface. Flowers solitary or in clusters of 2 or 3, mostly axillary, sometimes cauliflorous, bisexual, regular, hypogynous, 1-1.5 cm diam.; pedicels 0.5-7(-10) cm long. Perianth not differentiated into sepals and petals, segments numerous (7-33), free, overlapping at anthesis, spirally arranged, white, cream, pink, red or purplish. Androecium of (4-)numerous (up to c. 50) stamens, spirally arranged in one to several series; filaments short, thick; anthers basifixed, introrse to introrse-lateral, dehiscing by longitudinal slits; pollen grains binucleate, semitectate, tricolporate. Gynoecium of (5—)7—15(—21) free, conduplicate carpels, arranged in a single whorl, obliquely attached to receptacle; stigma dry, nonpapillate, decurrent; ovary unilocular, with single, near-basal, anatropous, bitegmic, crassinucellar ovule. Fruit a follicetum of single-seeded follicles, star-shaped, 2-3 cm across, green (ripening red), splitting along ventral edge of each segment when ripe. Seeds solitary in each segment, glossy, brown, with copious oily endosperm. Fig. 1.
USES The fruit of Illicium verum Hook. f. is the source of the spice Chinese Star Anise, used for flavouring food and liqueurs. Although this species does not occur in Malesia, the spice has been imported extensively from China and is traded in Malaysia as 'bunga lawang' or 'adas china' (Burkill 1966). The fruits of the Japanese species I. anisatum (syn. I. religiosum Siebold & Zucc.) are poisonous, although small quantities can be used for flavouring, and are sometimes retailed in Southeast Asia; confusion with the Chinese Star Anise resulted in unsuccessful attempts to grow it in Singapore (Burkill 1966). There has been considerable confusion regarding the application of common names to /. verum and I. anisatum (Small 1996). Although the name 'star anise' is rather ambiguous, it is widely used commercially; its use for the poisonous species I. anisatum should therefore be avoided. Other Illicium species have various reported medicinal properties, often as a stomachics, carminatives, stimulants or vermifuges (Perry 1980). The timber is of very limited value due to the small size of the trees. None of the Malesian species is of any reported ethnobotanical value. References: Burkill, I.H. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula 2 1966 1244-1246 Perry, L.M. Medicinal plants of East and Southeast Asia book 1980 180-181 Small, E. Econ. Bot. 50 1996 337-339
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