Illicium mexicanum x floridanum album 'Woodland Ruby' Richard Lynch and the plant is a

and the plant is a close eastern cousin of the familiar English holly

acidic soil and room for the broad

a low fountain of arching dark green blades that holds color and form through the year in mild winters

flame-colored flowers rise over the clump through early to midsummer

The first flush runs through early summer

Illicium mexicanum x floridanum album 'Woodland Ruby' Richard Lynch and the plant is aThe anise trees, genus Illicium, are aromatic broadleaf evergreens of the star anise family, Schisandraceae, prized as some of the finest flowering shrubs for shade. 'Woodland Ruby' is a Woodlanders introduction and one of the showiest of the group, a hybrid between the Mexican anise, Illicium mexicanum, and a white flowered form of the native Florida anise, Illicium floridanum. The cross carries ruby pink, star shaped flowers larger than those of