''Illicium parviflorum'', commonly known as yellow anisetree, yellow-anise, swamp star-anise,''Illicium parviflorum''.
Flora of North America. and small anise tree,''Illicium parviflorum''.
Missouri Botanical Garden. is a species of flowering plant in the family

Schisandraceae Schisandraceae is a family of flowering plants with 3 known genera and a total of 92 known species. Such a family has been recognized by most taxonomists, at least for the past several decades. Before that, the plants concerned were assigned to f ...

, or alternately, the

Illiciaceae 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 ...

. It is native to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It historically occurred in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

as well, but it has been

extirpated Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...

from the state.''Illicium parviflorum''.
NatureServe. 2012.

Description

This is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

shrub or

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

growing up to 7 meters tall, sometimes with several trunks. The wood, foliage, and flowers are fragrant, with a scent similar to

licorice Liquorice (British English) or licorice (American English) ( ; also ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring can be extracted. The liq ...

. The alternately arranged leaves have leathery, oval blades up to 15 centimeters long. They are dark, shiny green on top with paler, glandular undersides. The flowers are roughly a centimeter wide and have 11 to 14 yellow-green

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s and several stamens and

pistils Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) '' pistils' ...

. The fruit is a star-shaped aggregate of up to 13 follicles, each of which releases one shiny brown seed upon dehiscence. It is hardy in the US in

zones Zone or The Zone may refer to: Places Climate and altitude zones * Death zone (originally the lethal zone), altitudes above a certain point where the amount of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span * Frigid zone, ...

6-9.

Ecology

The plant grows in moist soils in several types of habitat, such as

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

s and

hammocks A hammock (from Spanish , borrowed from Taíno and Arawak ) is a sling made of fabric, rope, or netting, suspended between two or more points, used for swinging, sleeping, or resting. It normally consists of one or more cloth panels, or a wove ...

, 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'', the needle palm, is a palm, the sole member of the genus ''Rhapidophyllum''. It is native to coastal margins of the subtropical eastern Gulf and south Atlantic states of the United States. Endemic populations can be ...

(''Rhapidophyllum hystrix''), sweetbay (''Magnolia virginiana''), and swampbay (''Persea palustris'').

Conservation

The plant is currently known from fewer than 20 occurrences in

Central Florida Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the Gr ...

, within

Polk Polk may refer to: People * James K. Polk, 11th president of the United States * Polk (name), other people with the name Places * Polk (CTA), a train station in Chicago, Illinois * Polk, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Polk, Missou ...

Marion Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mario ...

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

Volusia Volusia County (, ) is located in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Florida, stretching between the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2020 census, the county was home to 553,543 people, an increase of 11.9% from the 2 ...

, and Seminole Counties. 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.

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

windbreak A windbreak (shelterbelt) is a planting usually made up of one or more rows of trees or shrubs planted in such a manner as to provide shelter from the wind and to protect soil from erosion. They are commonly planted in hedgerows around the edges ...

s. 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.Gilman, E. F
''Illicium parviflorum''.
FPS-278. Environmental Horticulture. Florida Cooperative Extension Service. University of Florida IFAS. Published 1999, revised 2007. 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.''Illicium parviflorum''.
FloriData. The plant is poisonous and cannot be used as a spice like its congener, star anise.

Etymology

''Illicium'' is derived from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and means 'seductive'. The name is in reference to the plant's fragrance.Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. (hardback), (paperback). pp 210, 292 ''Parviflorus'' means 'small-flowered'.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q743566 parviflorum Flora of Florida