Star Anise #
Illustration of Illicium verum Hook.f. from Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen (1887)
Star Anise (Illicium verum Hook.f.) is a culinary spice from the Schisandraceae family,1 originating in the region(s) of SE. China; Vietnam.2 It is used for its pericarp, primarily for meats, desserts; colic. Its aroma is described as bitter, licorice-like, with a heat index of 3.3
| English | Arabic | Chinese | Hungarian |
|---|---|---|---|
| star anise | يانسون نجمي | 八角 | csillagánizs |
Overview #
| id | star anise |
|---|---|
| species name | Illicium verum Hook.f. |
| family | Schisandraceae |
| part used | pericarp |
| macroarea | Asia |
| region of origin | SE. China; Vietnam |
| cultivation | China; Laos; Vietnam; Korea; Japan; Taiwan; Hainan; Philippines (POWO) |
| color | orange brown |
| botanical database | POWO |
Etymologies #
English star anise ‘star anise’
Arabic ينسون نجمي yansūn najmī ‘star anise’
Mandarin Chinese 八角茴香 bājiǎohuíxiāng ‘star anise’
English badian ‘star anise’, 1693 < French badiane ‘star anise’, 1681 < Persian بادیان bādyān ‘fennel; anise’
Names #
English #
| term | source |
|---|---|
| star anise | OED |
| Chinese anise | OED |
| Chinese fennel | |
| Chinese star anise | Van Wyk, 2014 |
| Siberian anise | |
| badian | OED |
Arabic #
| script | term | literal | source |
|---|---|---|---|
| يانسون نجمي | yānsūn najmī | star anise | |
| نجمة اليانسون الصينية | najmat al-yānsūn al-ṣīniyya | Chinese star anise | |
| ليسوم حقيقي | laysūm ḥaqīqī | true illicium | Wikipedia |
Chinese #
| script | term | literal | source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 八角茴香 | bājiǎohuíxiāng | eight-horned-hui-spice | Kleeman, 2010 |
| 八角 | bājiǎo | eight-horns/octagon | Defrancis, 2003 |
| 舶茴香 | bóhuíxiāng | ship-hui-spice | |
| 大茴香 | dàhuíxiāng | big-hui-spice | MDBG |
| 大料 | dàliào | big-ingredient | Defrancis, 2003 |
POWO. (2022). Plants of the World Online (Botanical Database). Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/ ↩︎
van Wyk, B.-E. (2014). Culinary Herbs and Spices of the World. University of Chicago Press, joint publication with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226091839.001.0001 ↩︎
Medicinal Spices Exhibit. (2002). UCLA Biomedical Library: History & Special Collections. https://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/biomed/spice/index.cfm?spicefilename=taste.txt&itemsuppress=yes&displayswitch=0 ↩︎