Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Anise

ANISE, Pimpinella Anisum, is an umbelliferous plant found in Egypt and the Levant, and cultivated on the Continent of Europe. It is used medicinally as an agreeable aromatic. The officinal part of the plant is the fruit, which consists of two united carpels, called a cremocarp. It is known by the name of aniseed, and has a strong aromatic taste and a powerful odour. By distillation the fruit yields a volatile, oily matter known as oil of anise. It is used as a carminative, and is also employed in the manufacture of liqueurs. The anise of the Bible (Matt, xxiii. 23) is Anethum graveolens, or dill (see fig.), a native of the south of Europe and of Egypt, and also found near Astracan, at Buenos Ayres, and at the Cape of Good Hope. The name Dill is derived from an old Norse word meaning to soothe, referring to its carminative qualities in allaying pain. It is one of the garden plants of which the Pharisees were wont to pay tithes. It is used in pickles and soups. The star-anise of liqueur-makers is the produce of a totally different plant, Illicium anisatum, belonging to the Natural Order Magnoliaceæ, sub-order Wintereæ. It receives its name from its flavour, and from its fruit spreading out like a star.