ABSTRACT
The genus Illicium contains 34 species of evergreen trees or shrubs that are native to the Northern Hemisphere, most of them distributed in the east and southeast parts of Asia, with a minority existing in the southeast parts of North America and Middle South America; there are about 24 species in southwestern and eastern China. The essential oil (anise oil) used for flavoring is obtained from the bark of I. parviflorum Michx.ex Vent. (yellow star anise) and the fruit, branch, and leaf of I. verum Hook. f. (Chinese star anise). Chinese star anise was first recorded in Bencaopinhuijingyao (1509), a book on Chinese herbal medicine, and was widely cultivated in the Guangxi and Yunnan provinces of China. The ripe fruit of this plant was named Bajiaohuixiang or Daliao; it is used as a carminative. Difengpi, the bark of I. difengpi B.N.Chang, is used as an antirheumatic. This latter species is distributed in the southwest part of Guangxi. These two drugs and anise oil were included in the Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China (2000). The fruits of other species were also used locally as folk medicine. Because the morphology of the fruit of the genus was very similar, some fruits of toxic species appeared on the market as adulterants of that of Chinese star anise, which led to poisonings. All the species of Illicium contain shikimic acid, which has been shown to inhibit platelet aggregation and blood coagulation and to alleviate pain.
