Anise Star is the dried fruit of the Illicium verum, an evergreen tree of the Magnoliaceae family, indigenous to the southeastern part of China and to Vietnam. Its Flavour and uses are similar to those of anise. The fruit takes its name from the starlike arrangement of its carpels around a central axis. The dried fruit is about 0.1 to 0.2 inch in diameter; individual carpels are usually about 1 cm in length and contain a single seed. Dried carpels are hard, rough, and reddish brown; the seeds are smooth, lustrous, and light brown in colour. The dried fruit's essential-oil content is about 3 percent, and its principal component is anethole.