-> Star anise ... It's the seeds that are edible, I don't know about eating star anise as such, but in cooking, the entire seed pod is used, whole or broken. I've seen it whole (or broken) in various food preparations, and I'm sure the entire seed pod, seeds, wings and all, is ground up when powdered star anise is called for. Of course, star anise (Illicium verum, Magnioliaceae [Magnolia family]) is completely unrelated to "real" anise (Pimpinella anisum, Umbelliferae) (which in turn is different from fennel (Foeniculum vulgare, also Umbelliferae), but that's another issue). --- Brent