Florida Anise – Illicium Floridanum – 7 Gallon Pot

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 7a-10b  Find Your Zone

Plant Type:  Evergreen Shrub

Flower Color:  Dark Red, Maroon

Flower Size:  Medium-2″

Flowering Period:  Spring

Flower Type:  Single

Fragrant Flowers:  Yes

Foliage Color:  Dark Green

Fragrant Foliage:  Yes

Berries/ Pods:  Yes

Attracts:  Visual Attention

Resistances:  Deer – more info, Disease, Heat, Insect

Excellent for use as an evergreen privacy screen in shade or as a large specimen shrub or small tree, Florida Anise is one of the most dependable broad-leaved evergreen shrubs for the shade garden and sites with consistently moist soil. In spring, this North American native produces uniquely shaped, dark red 2-inch diameter flowers with many strap-like petals. Its thick, glossy dark green leaves that are 2 to 6 inches long and 1 to 2 inches wide adorn the tree year-round. A whiff of the leaves reveals a pleasant anise scent that tempts the passerby to tear a leaf in order to enjoy the spicy aroma. 

With an upright habit and rounded form 10 to 15 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide, Florida Anise is ideal for use as a specimen, in groupings or as a natural evergreen hedge or privacy screen in shady sites with consistently moist soil. As this anise grows taller lower branches can be removed to form a highly attractive evergreen focal point specimen tree. Also ideal for use in home foundation plantings to frame corners or as espalier (trained to grow flat against a wall) between widely-spaced windows or on windowless walls. 

Suggested Spacing:  6 feet apart for solid hedges;  12 feet or more apart for space between plants

Note:  For our customers who live and garden north of USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 7a, where Florida Anise is not reliably winter hardy, you’ll be happy to know it can be grown in containers that can be brought indoors during winter and placed back outside when temperatures warm up in spring.