Description
Star Anise, Great Asian spices, Star Anise. Truly one of the great Asian spices , used extensively in Asian cooking. Illicium verum is a medium evergreen tree , native to northeast Vietnam and southwest China. I had a great trip too Northern Vietnam in the early 1980s and saw wild trees , which I imported at the time ... As I’ve grown other Illicium shrubs I was surprised to see Star Anise Illicium Verum as a 6-7 metre tree. A spice commonly referred to as ; star anise, staranise, star anise seed, Chinese star anise, or badiam. StarAnise resembles anise in flavor and is harvested from the star-shaped pericarp of the fruit of Illicium verum, just before ripening. Star anise oil is highly fragrant and used in the following ; cooking, perfumes , soaps, toothpastes, mouthwashes, and skin creams.Most of the world's star anise production is used for extraction of shikimic acid.The northern border of Vietnam & China was largely cleared due to the subsequent war between the two countries after the Vietnam war and in the 1980s it was strange to see large tracts of clear grassy fields.We have plants available for the first time; highly recommend for lovers of cooking and chefs. Nth East Vietnam & Sth West China.