Anise

Scientific name: Pimpinella anisum

Other names: Aniseed, sweet cumin

Parts Used: Seeds, oil

Anise is a flowering plant related to carrots and celery, known for its licorice-like flavor. It was cultivated by the Egyptians, and well-known to the Greeks. In Roman times, it was cultivated in Tuscany.

Description
Anise is a dainty herbaceous annual growing up to 3 ft in height, with secondary bright green leaflets. The plant has a grooved stem and alternately arranged leaves. The lower leaves are round with a toothed edge, while the upper leaves are feathered and become progressively shorter toward the top of the plant. The Anise plant produces umbels of small while flowers, and an oval, flattened, hairy fruit containing a single seed.

Habitat
Anise is native to the eastern Mediterranean region and southwestern Asia. It grows best in light-fertile, well-drained soil. The seeds should be planted as early in the spring as possible. Because of their taproot, they do not transplant well once established.

Anise is a tropical or subtropical plant and will not tolerate frost.

Culinary Uses
Anise is sweet and aromatic, characterized by its distinctive licorice flavor. The seeds are used in a wide variety of confectioneries, including black jelly beans, aniseed balls, Australian humbugs, New Zealand aniseed wheels, and Italian pizzelle. The ancient Romans served aniseed cakes called mustaceoe as a digestive at the end of feasts, the origin of the serving of cake at wedding receptions.

Medicinal Uses
Anise has been used as both a spice and a food since ancient times. Pliny spoke of the importance of chewing the fruits to dispel bad breath.

Anise has a number of digestive properties, including carminative, stomachic, antispasmodic, and sedative, which treat everything from excessive gas to gastritis to heartburn. Anise also stimulates digestion and increases the appetite.

Anise has a number of properties that make it effective at treating respiratory disorders. Its expectorant and anti-inflammatory properties make it an effective treatment for bronchitis, the common cold, and asthma.

As a sedative, Anise is effective at calming one's nerves and easing the symptoms of neurasthenia. Anise can also be used to treat dysmenorrhea, irregular or painful periods, and lack of sexual desire.

Magickal Uses
Anise is associated with the planets Mercury and Jupiter, the element of Air, and the god Apollo. It is used in spells relating to contacting other planes, divination, love, lust, passion, preventing nightmares, protection, psychic development and protection, purification, cleansing, consecration, fertility, luck, and money.

Put anise cuttings beside your bed or inside your pillowcase to ward off nightmares. Drink a cup of anise tea per day to promote psychic development. Anise can be combined with bay laurel in a sachet for purifying and protection baths. Burn anise seed for protection and meditation rituals.

Recipes

 * Anise Tea
 * Mustaceoe

Warnings
Anise might cause allergic reactions in some people who are allergic to other plants that are similar to anise. Plants that are similar to anise include asparagus, caraway, celery, coriander, cumin, dill, and fennel. Women with any condition that may be worsened by exposure to estrogen should not use anise.