Illicium mexicanum x floridanum album 'Woodland Ruby' Richard Lynch The first flush runs through

The first flush runs through early summer

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

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

a bright curtain against the glossy evergreen leaves

Illicium mexicanum x floridanum album 'Woodland Ruby' Richard Lynch The first flush runs throughThe 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