Yellow Anise Tree

Light Needs

Full Shade to Part Shade

(0-4 Hours Direct Sun)

Mature Height

15-20 Feet

Mature Spread

10 Feet

Growing Zones

8 to 9

Yellow Anise Tree provides dense evergreen screening with glossy foliage and a distinctive licorice scent when the leaves are crushed. Illicium parviflorum grows as a dense shrub or small tree, typically 10 to 15 feet tall and 6 to 10 feet wide, with mature plants sometimes reaching larger in favorable sites. New leaves emerge yellow-green before maturing to olive green, giving the plant a fresh look through the growing season. 

This Florida native is the most cold-hardy of the North American Illicium species and performs well in warm, humid shade. Small yellow-green flowers appear in late spring to early summer, followed by star-shaped fruit that resembles culinary star anise but should not be eaten. Yellow Anise Tree is evergreen, deer resistant, and useful in rain gardens, woodland borders, foundation plantings, hedges, and naturalized screens. It can sucker with age, which helps it form a fuller colony in moist shaded areas.

Yellow Anise Tree Care

Plant Yellow Anise Tree in partial shade, dappled shade, or full shade. It grows in clay, loam, or sandy soil with good drainage and consistent moisture. Acidic, neutral, or alkaline pH is tolerated, though rich, moist soil gives the best foliage density.

Water deeply after planting and keep the root zone evenly moist during establishment. Once settled, Yellow Anise Tree can handle brief dry periods, but it grows best when soil does not stay dry for long. Fertilize in spring with a balanced slow-release fertilizer or compost if the soil is lean. Keep a 2- to 3-inch mulch layer over the roots, leaving space around the stems so the crown stays open.

Prune Yellow Anise Tree in late winter or just after flowering, depending on whether shape or bloom timing is the priority. Remove crossing stems, thin crowded interior growth, or limb up lower branches if training it as a small tree. Cut out unwanted suckers at the base when a tighter hedge or single specimen form is preferred.

Yellow Anise Tree Spacing

Space Yellow Anise Tree 6 to 10 feet apart for a screen or informal hedge. Allow 10 to 12 feet for a single specimen, especially if it will be grown with its natural suckering habit. For containers, start with a large pot at least 22 inches wide with drainage holes, and use a moisture-retentive potting mix that does not stay soggy.

Build the planting around Yellow Anise Tree in layers: camellia can stand nearby as another evergreen shade shrub, sweetspire can handle the moister edge of the bed, and ferns can fill the lower woodland floor. Barrenwort works well near the dripline where shade is deeper and root competition increases. In a large shaded container, use creeping liriope or Japanese forest grass at the rim to echo the woodland setting while sharing steady moisture and protected light.

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