Aniseed or Anise Seed

When you read herb books and cookbooks, one of the unavoidable statements about many plants is that, they taste or smell like Aniseed.

Well, that’s exactly what Aniseed tastes and smells like.
It is a beautiful herb to grow, with it’s fern like foliage and umbels of white flowers that mature into the wonderful Anise seeds.
As a culinary herb, it is unequalled, and lends itself to deserts, confectionery, fruit salads, curries, pickles, sweet soups and spirits.
You can use the leaves, the flowers, the seeds of course and even the root.
We strike ours in winter to get the mature plants in early summer, but in NSW, Vic or South Australia and Tasmania you should be able to grow it at almost any time of year.

Medicinally, Anise is expectorant, and soothing for irritable coughs or bronchial problems as well as being able to ease nausea or colic.
In small doses the oil from the seed can be a pleasant masking taste for unpleasant tonics but in large doses it can be quite toxic.