ILLICIUM ANISATUM

ILLICIUM ANISATUM.—八角茴香 (Pa-chio-hui-hsiang), 928. Star anise is confounded with 蘹香 (Huai-hsiang) in the Pêntsao. This latter is an umbelliferous plant, most probably Pimpinella anisum, with which the description in the Pêntsao agrees. The plant which produces the star-anise does not seem to have been very well known to Chinese botanists, and their identification of this drug seems to have depended largely upon the characteristic odor. It is brought in sea-going junks principally to Canton, and for this reason is called 舶茴香 (Po-hui-hsiang). It is presumed that it comes from the East Indies or Japan, although it is said to grow in Kuangsi. All that is said about the plant is that it is different from the native 茴香 (Hui-hsiang) in every respect except the odor. In the Appendix to the Pêntsao, where it is called 木八角 (Mu-pa-chio), a tolerable description of the shrub is given. It is likened to Hibiscus mutabilis in appearance. The seeds are recommended in constipation, and as a diuretic, in lumbago, hernia, extrophy of the bladder, and the like. There is a 草八角 (Ts‘ao-pa-chio) which seems to be a smaller variety of the shrub. It certainly is not an umbellifer. The star-anise fruits, as they appear in commerce, present the radiate, star-like arrangement of the eight folicles, from which appearance they receive their name. Each of the folicles is compressed laterally, boat-shaped, roughened, and opens more or less at the top, disclosing a shining, yellow, ovate, solitary seed in the smooth cavity. The fruits vary from one inch to an inch and a quarter in diameter. One or more of the carpels is often abortive. Within the brittle testa is a pair of shrunken, oily cotyledons. The pericarp has a strongly aromatic, faintly acidulous taste, and an odor like that of aniseed. The seeds have a sweeter flavor. There is an oil, called 八角油 (Pa-chio-yu), which is said by Dr. Williams to be made by distilling the fruit in small retorts; a picul producing about seven catties of oil. It is sent to Europe and America in tin-lined cases. The oil is pale, and warm or sweetish to the taste. It becomes solid at about 50° Fahrenheit.