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Pimpinella anisum

Anise Burnet Saxifrage · Anise · Sweet-cumin

Family ApiaceaeGenus Pimpinella

Delicate, open sprays of tiny white flowers on thin branching stalks, against a blurred background
FlowerGianluca Congi🪶🦆🌲CC BY-SA 4.0
A plate of anise: a flat white umbel above broad toothed lower leaves and thread-fine upper ones, with flowers and ribbed seeds drawn around it.
IllustrationFranz Eugen Köhler, Köhler's Medizinal-PflanzenPublic domain

About the plant

What it is and where it grows — not part of any germination protocol.

The plant

Habit
Annual, HerbExtension Gardener Plant Toolbox
Habit
annualPlants of the World Online
Flower
WhiteExtension Gardener Plant Toolbox
Blooms
SummerExtension Gardener Plant Toolbox
Native range
Cyprus, Lebanon-Syria, Palestine, TürkiyeGBIF Backbone Taxonomy

Growing conditions

Sun
Full sunExtension Gardener Plant Toolbox

Toxicity is noted only where a source states it. No note here is not a finding of safety.

Sources: Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox — NC State Extension; Plants of the World Online — Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; GBIF Backbone Taxonomy — Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Worth knowing

  • Its seeds taste and smell like star anise, fennel, liquorice and tarragon. Anise comes through Old French and Latin from a Greek word for dill. Wikipedia: Anise

This source reports two treatments. Both are shown.

Protocol 1

DerivedN. C. Deno, 1993

Difficulty Moderate Rated by us, not by the source.

Start around February 22, 2027 for a May 3 last frost.

  1. Cold moist stratification

    Temperature: 40°F 4°C

Germination happens during step 1, in 42 days.

41% germination in 21–42 days.

Seed Germination Theory and Practice, 2nd ed. — N. C. Deno, 1993 · Ch. 20, Pimpinella p. 194Public domain
Show the original text
Pimpinella (Apiaceae). P. anisum germ. 65% in 5-11 d in either 70D or 70L, 40(41% in 3-6 w), and 34% in early April in outdoor treatment.
Seed Germination Theory and Practice, 2nd ed., Ch. 20, Pimpinella p. 194. Quoted exactly. Every value on this card comes from this record, except the difficulty rating, which is ours; the step names come from a fixed list.

Protocol 2

DerivedN. C. Deno, 1993

Difficulty Moderate Rated by us, not by the source.

  1. Sow outdoors and leave it

    Up in early April.

No stated waiting before sowing.

34% germination.

This source doesn't state how long step 1 lasts.

Seed Germination Theory and Practice, 2nd ed. — N. C. Deno, 1993 · Ch. 20, Pimpinella p. 194Public domain
Show the original text
Pimpinella (Apiaceae). P. anisum germ. 65% in 5-11 d in either 70D or 70L, 40(41% in 3-6 w), and 34% in early April in outdoor treatment.
Seed Germination Theory and Practice, 2nd ed., Ch. 20, Pimpinella p. 194. Quoted exactly. Every value on this card comes from this record, except the difficulty rating, which is ours; the step names come from a fixed list.

How each step is done, in Deno’s words, and what Verified and Derived mean.

Germination trials

Readers’ own records of sowing this species, published after review. Share your trial · All trials

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