Syzygium anisatum (formerly Backhousia anisata and Anetholea anisata), or Aniseed Myrtle, or Ringwood is an Australian rainforest tree with an aromatic leaf that has a similar essential oil profile to true aniseed. The leaf is used as a bushfood spice and distilled for the essential oil. Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Divisions Green algae Chlorophyta Charophyta Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) †Rhyniophyta - rhyniophytes †Zosterophyllophyta - zosterophylls Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses †Trimerophytophyta - trimerophytes Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants (also called angiosperms) are a major group of land plants. ... Magnoliopsida is the botanical name for a class: this name is formed by replacing the termination -aceae in the name Magnoliaceae by the termination -opsida (Art 16 of the ICBN). ... Families See text. ... Genera 130; see list The Myrtaceae or Myrtle family are a family of dicotyledon plants, placed within the order Myrtales. ... Species About 500; see text Syzygium is a genus of flowering plants, belonging to the myrtle family Myrtaceae. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... The Daintree Rainforest in Queensland, Australia. ... Binomial name Pimpinella anisum L. Anise (Pimpinella anisum) is an herb in the family Apiaceae (formerly Umbelliferae) whose seed-like fruit (also called aniseed) is used in sweet baking as well as in anise-flavored liqueurs (e. ... Screen shot of Spice OPUS, a fork of Berkeley SPICE SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuits Emphasis) is a general purpose analog circuit simulator. ... An essential oil is a concentrated, hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aromatic compounds extracted from plants. ...

The aniseed myrtle tree has a dense crown and grows up to 45 metres. The leaves are 6-12 cm long with prominently wavey margins and aniseed aroma. Flowers are white and sweetly scented, borne in panicles. The fruit are dry papery capsules 5 mm long.

Aniseed myrtle's natural distribution in the wild is restricted to the Nambucca and Bellinger Valleys in the subtropics of Eastern Australia. Aniseed myrtle has also been commercially cultivated in plantations since the mid 1990's to meet the demand for spice and essential oil.

Essential Oil

The essential oil of aniseed myrtle contains trans-E-anethole and methyl chavicol, which impart aniseed and licorice flavours respectively. The high anethole chemotype is generally considered more desirable for flavouring and can be propagated from cutting to provide consistent essential oil quality. However, it is essential to screen for the presence of cis-anethole, as against trans-anethole, since the cis form is regarded as carcinogenic while trans-anethole is GRAS (generally regarded as safe).

References:

Floyd, A.G., Rainforest Trees of Mainland South-eastern Australia, ISBN 0-909605-57-2.