Nic the seeds and soak them in warm water, the seed requires a temperature of 70°F to germinate. I've never heard that the ones from the store won't germinate totally possible.

MBT

Culinary Star anise (Illicium verum) is usually grown in southern Asian countries, & I know of no plants or a source for fresh seeds in the US. Fresh seeds would be more likely to germinate. Be careful when you buy seeds for sale  anyone can grab this spice off the spice rack & resale the seeds, but that does not mean they will germinate. I can get a package of star anise from the store for about 60 cents & I would not buy unless I was assured germination. When buying seeds, look for the seed companies germination rate for that seed. Having said that, I am trying the same thing as you - sometimes many of these spices can be grown from store bought seeds.

One problem you will have with store-bought star anise is a lack of viable seed. Below is a picture. The seeds are inside the star pod inside the shiny shell. The ones on the left are the seeds, whereas the ones on the right are dried up seeds that are definitely not viable. The outer shiny shell of the star anise is very fragile, and would probably break down with the soil.

I were purchasing seeds I would break down the shiny shell & notify the company if I found dried up seeds in them. I would not pay for non viable seeds as seen in the right.

{{gwi:216564}}

Hi, I am searching for the real satr anise, bought some seeds, planted them, had them healthily sprouted and have them growing. Question is - Are they really Illicium Verum ? If you can help me answering it, I would be very grateful, cause the data about the subjet, available in the net, is not relliable, probably because of intervention of the powerfull pharmaceutical industries politics, that spread misinformation on their most valuable subjects,as star anise, from wich is made TAMIFLU.
Thanks, Silvio Chaves.

Hi I want to thank you for your picture. I planted 3-star anise seeds but I also planted other seeds and I saw this seedling and was wondering if that was the star anise. Now with your pic I can verify that this is indeed the star anise plant. I know this is years later so I hope you were successful in your crop! Thank you because I was looking all over the internet for what a seedling looks like at that size so thanks again. Feel free to post what your tree looks like now!

I bought star anise seeds and planted them but they look like cilantro. I'm trying to figure out if perhaps it was anise and not star anise? What does seedlings look like?

This is supposed to be star anise but I'm doubting it is. It isnt cilantro though as it has no smell.