樒(シキミ) Japanese star anise

　シキミは植物全体が有毒で、特に果実と種が危険です。食べると死亡する可能性が高いです。果実が、中華料理で使われる、八角に酷似しているので厄介です。シキミの果実は、植物であるにもかかわらず、例外的に、毒物及び劇物取締法により、劇物に指定されています。それは、八角に混入して市場に出て、死亡事故が起きたことによります。シキミより、さらに毒性が強いトリカブトは、市場に流通することはないので、劇物に指定されていません。
　シキミは、仏教と一緒に日本に渡来したので、仏事と深い関わりを持っています。死に水（末期の水）を取る儀式で、ガーゼや筆の代わりに、シキミの葉が使われたこともあるそうです。

　The entire Japanese Star Anise plant is poisonous, and the fruit and seeds are particularly dangerous. It's tricky because the fruit looks very similar to Chinese Star Anise, which is used in Chinese cuisine. Although fruits of Japanese Star Anise are plants, they are, exceptionally, designated as a highly toxic substance under the Poisonous and Deleterious Substances Control Act. This is because it was mixed into Chinese Star Anise and sold on the market, leading to a fatal accident. Monkshood, which is even more toxic than Japanese Star Anise, is not sold on a market and is therefore not designated as a highly toxic substance. 
　Since Japanese Star Anise was introduced to Japan along with Buddhism, it has deep ties to Buddhist rituals. It is said that the leaves of Japanese Star Anise were sometimes employed, or were once used, instead of gauze or a brush during the ritual of administering the final sip of water to the dying.