As I continued my wildflower inventories at Zim Smith Trail yesterday and today, I noticed that the green seedpods of Aniseroot are now ready to provide a fun trailside nibble. If you like the flavor of mild anise, I highly recommend sampling a tender seedpod or two within the next few days. After that, the seedpods become too fibrous and dried out and that subtle licorice-like flavor disappears.
So, if interested, here is your target; look for the green seedpods, shown in circle in upper right corner of this image:
Aniseroot
NOTE: Above photo was observed on the “Wildeherb” blog in an article (dated 7/20/2011) entitled “Wild Anise Root is a Native Cousin to Parsley.”
And if you know where to find them, feel free to sample the tender seedpods of its close relative, Sweet Cicely (similar appearance to Aniseroot, but with fuzzy stem), shown here:
Sweet Cicely
Happy trails!
Curious By Nature 