A member of the carrot family, anise tastes like licorice. In fact, licorice candy is likely to be flavored with anise. Use fresh anise leaves in salads, soups, and stocks, or as a garnish.

Bake the seeds in breads, cookies, or cakes; stew them with apples and pears; or steam them with cabbages, onions, carrots, or turnips. Anise is a good breath freshener, used commercially in toothpaste and mouthwash.

Lank and floppy, this 2-foot (61-cm) annual begins life with round, toothed leaves; but on a mature plant, the leaves are feathery and ferny. The mid-summer flowers are airy, flat, yellowish-white clusters about 2 inches (5 cm) across, followed by tiny gray-brown, comma-shaped, ribbed fruits.

A bit touchy in the garden, anise won’t set seed in climates with fewer than 120 frost-free days. Anise needs full sun but rebels against heat and humidity. Light, fast-draining soil of average fertility gives the best results. Shelter plants from wind and don’t make them compete with weeds or other plants.

Anise is hard to transplant, so start it outdoors after the soil and air have warmed. Sow seeds 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep, and thin seedlings to 8 inches (20 cm) apart. If you live in a cold climate, try starting seeds in peat pots. In the Deep South, sow anise seeds in fall.