Star Anise Scent

Illicium verum

Illicium verum is a medium-sized evergreen tree native to South China and northeast Vietnam. Its star-shaped pericarp fruits harvested just before ripening are a spice that closely resembles anise in flavor. Its primary production country is China, followed by Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries. Star anise oil is highly fragrant, used in cooking, perfumery, soaps, toothpastes, mouthwashes, and skin creams. Until 2012, when it switched to using genetically modified E. coli, Roche Pharmaceuticals used up to 90% of the world's annual star anise crop to produce oseltamivir (Tamiflu) via shikimic acid.

Star

A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by self-gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night; their immense distances from Earth make them appear as fixed points of light. The most prominent stars have been categorised into constellations and asterisms, and many of the brightest stars have proper names. Astronomers have assembled star catalogues that identify the known stars and provide standardized stellar designations. The observable universe contains an estimated 1022 to 1024 stars. Only about 4,000 of these stars are visible to the naked eye—all within the Milky Way galaxy.

Anise

Anise, also called aniseed or rarely anix, is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Southwest Asia.

Odor

An odor or odour is a smell or a scent caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds generally found in low concentrations that humans and many animals can perceive via their olfactory system. While smell can refer to pleasant and unpleasant odors, the terms scent, aroma, and fragrance are usually reserved for pleasant-smelling odors and are frequently used in the food and cosmetic industry to describe floral scents or to refer to perfumes.

star

Noun

1. Any small, natural and bright dot in the sky, most visible in the night or twilight sky. This sense includes the planets, but it is now sometimes used in exclusion of them due to influence from the technical astronomical sense.
2. A planet thought to influence one's fate; (figuratively) fate or luck.

Verb

1. To appear as a featured performer or headliner, especially in an entertainment program.
2. To feature (a performer or a headliner), especially in a movie or an entertainment program.

anise

Noun

1. An umbelliferous plant (Pimpinella anisum) growing naturally in Egypt, and cultivated in Spain, Malta, etc., for its carminative and aromatic seeds, which are used as a spice. It has a licorice scent.
2. Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare.

scent

Noun

1. A distinctive smell.
2. A smell left by an animal that may be used for tracing.

Verb

1. To detect the scent of; to discern by the sense of smell.
2. To inhale in order to detect the scent of (something).