Japanese star anise

I. anisatum is a shrub, even a small tree, usually to 2m, but possibly to 6m in very mild areas. The narrowly oval leaves, to 5cm long and 2cm wide, are dark green. Young branches are green, spotted brown, and aromatic like the leaves. Flowers are pale greenish yellow with many, slightly twisting narrow petals, borne clustered in the leaf axils in spring