For instance, Chinese cinnamon (cassia) is made from bark stripped from the trunk and branches of the Chinese cassia tree (Cinnamomum cassia); star anise is the fruit of the star anise tree (Illicium verum), so named because the eight compartments of its seed pod radiate out in a star shape; fennel seed is the rice-grain-sized seed of the fennel plant.
譬如，桂皮為肉桂樹枝幹剝取下來的皮；八角是大茴香樹的果實，因為果實有八瓣，呈放射狀，看起來像星星，所以叫做八角，又叫大茴香和大料；小茴香則是另一種茴香樹結出的種籽，呈傘狀型，因為種籽顆粒小如稻米，所以名為小茴香。