Ben Cao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica, an encyclopedic 16th-century herbal pharmacopoeia), records that the star anise imported by ship had larger and fuller seed pods, a deeper color and a sweeter flavor, and was popularly known as "ship aniseed."
《本草綱目》記載，從異國舶來的八角，果實大而飽滿，色澤較深，味道更甜，俗呼「舶茴香」。