star anise vs Chinese anise

star anise and Chinese anise both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
star anise	Yes	No	No	No
Chinese anise	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, star anise and Chinese anise are synonyms defined as:

star anise and Chinese anise: anise-scented star-shaped fruit or seed used in Asian cooking and medicine

Other synonyms of star anise include star aniseed.

As nouns, star anise and Chinese anise are synonyms defined as:

star anise and Chinese anise: small tree of China and Vietnam bearing anise-scented star-shaped fruit used in food and medicinally as a carminative

Other synonyms of star anise include Illicium verum.

star anise (noun)	Chinese anise (noun)
anise-scented star-shaped fruit or seed used in Asian cooking and medicine	anise-scented star-shaped fruit or seed used in Asian cooking and medicine
small tree of China and Vietnam bearing anise-scented star-shaped fruit used in food and medicinally as a carminative	small tree of China and Vietnam bearing anise-scented star-shaped fruit used in food and medicinally as a carminative
small shrubby tree of Japan and Taiwan; flowers are not fragrant