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Illicium

Family

Illiciaceae

A genus of about forty species of evergreen trees and shrubs, natives of E. and S.E. Asia, the eastern USA, Mexico, and the West Indies. It is the only genus in the family Illiciaceae, which is allied to the Magnolia family but differs in the carpels being borne in a single whorl round a central axis, developing into a star-shaped fruit, not cone-shaped as in Magnoli­aceae. A closer ally is the Winteraceae (Drimys, etc.) but in that group the sepals are valvate, not imbricate as in Illicium.

Three species are grown out-of-doors in the British Isles, one from the S.E. United States, the other two from China and Japan. All are rather tender. They prefer a partially peaty soil, especially until well-established, and can best be propagated by layers.

Species articles