🌿 Yellow Anise (Illicium parviflorum)

Native to Central Florida, Yellow Anise is a hardy evergreen shrub-to-small tree that adds texture, fragrance, and year-round greenery to your landscape. It’s perfect as a privacy hedge, natural screen, or even a standout specimen in shaded gardens.

🌸 Flowers & Foliage

• Blooms: Small greenish-yellow flowers in spring and summer, lightly fragrant and loved by pollinators like tiny flies.

• Leaves: Up to 6 inches long, dark glossy green on top with a lighter underside, releasing a subtle anise/licorice fragrance when crushed.

• Fruit: Star-shaped capsules that eventually split to release seeds (decorative but not edible).

🌱 Plant Details

• Mature Size: 10–20 ft. tall × 5–10+ ft. wide

• Growth Habit: Evergreen, dense, and clumping — makes an excellent natural screen

• Exposure: Partial to full shade (tolerates morning sun, but thrives with protection)

• Soil: Rich, acidic, and moist to moderately dry soils

• Lifespan: Perennial

• Native Range: Found only in 7 Central Florida counties (true local!)

🌟 Why We Love It

• Evergreen coverage: Thick foliage that shelters birds and wildlife year-round.

• Versatile use: Works as a buffer, hedge, screen, or focal plant.

• Low maintenance: Pest-free and naturally tidy.

• Florida native: A great choice for landscapes aiming for local resilience.

⚠️ Note: While related to the spice star anise, this plant is not edible. Its leaves and fruit may be toxic if ingested.

✅ Level To Leaf Tip: Plant Yellow Anise where you need reliable greenery in part shade. Give it consistent moisture at first, and once established, it’s tough and easy to maintain. Avoid salt exposure and long droughts.