''Polypodium glycyrrhiza'', commonly known as licorice fern, many-footed fern, and sweet root, is a summer

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except t ...

native to western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, where it is found in shaded, damp locations. Spores are located in rounded sori on the undersides of the fronds, and are released in cool weather and high humidity.

Description

Licorice fern grows single fronds scattered along a thick creeping rhizome; the genus name ''Polypodium'' (many-footed) refers to this characteristic. The fronds are once-divided and triangular in shape, with finely-toothed margins and pointed leaflets. They are usually at least one foot in length, but may grow to be over two feet long, and may be much smaller when growth conditions are less ideal. They also display parallel venation. When sori are present on the leaf underside, they correspond with small bump-like protrusions on the top side of the leaves. The rhizome is creeping and the fronds appear to have random placement, originating at various points. The rhizome appears reddish-brown, and has a sweet licorice flavor. Since it is a fern, ''P. glycyrrhiza'' reproduces by spores; the spores form in two rows of sori, which look like large spots on the undersides of the leaves. The sori range in color from yellow to orange to brown. Plants that are not thriving may have no sori or the sori may be patchy and will not appear in neat rows. Licorice fern may grow over the ground, rocks, or as an

epiphyte An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

, especially on moss-covered ''

Acer macrophyllum ''Acer macrophyllum'', the bigleaf maple or Oregon maple, is a large deciduous tree in the genus '' Acer''. It is native to western North America, mostly near the Pacific coast, from southernmost Alaska to southern California. Some stands are al ...

''. The species is not closely related to the flowering plant from which the commercial product

licorice Liquorice (British English) or licorice (American English) ( ; also ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring can be extracted. The liq ...

is derived (''Glycyrrhiza glabra'').

Etymology

The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''glycyrrhiza'' refers to the pronounced licorice flavor of the rhizome. ''Glykys'' in Greek means sweet, while ''rhiza'' means root.

Distribution

It occurs primarily in a narrow near-coastal strip in southern

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

, southwestern

Yukon Territory Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

, western

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, and

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, with a disjunct population in

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

. Hitchcock, C.L. and Cronquist, A. 2018. Flora of the Pacific Northwest, 2nd Edition, p. 56. University of Washington Press, Seattle.

Habitat and ecology

The plant prefers moist environments, so it is typically found on wet ground, rocks, moss-covered tree trunks in very wet areas, and logs. Occasionally it can be seen on fallen trees. It is particularly associated with bigleaf maple (''

''). The fern is

mycorrhiza A mycorrhiza (from Greek μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. mycorrhizae, mycorrhiza or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant ...

l, meaning it can form root associations with the hyphae of fungi. It takes advantage of the mild, wet winters and the substrate of deciduous trees to photosynthesize and grow during the cold season when most other temperate plants are dormant. Habitat elevation is lowlands below 600 meters.

Chemistry

The sweet flavor of the rhizome was once attributed to the glycoside

glycyrrhizin Glycyrrhizin (or glycyrrhizic acid or glycyrrhizinic acid) is the chief sweet-tasting constituent of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'' ( liquorice) root. Structurally, it is a saponin used as an emulsifier and gel-forming agent in foodstuffs and cosmet ...

. However, a study has shown that the flavor may actually be due to polypodoside, which is 600 times sweeter than 6% sucrose solution.

Cultivation

Licorice fern is cultivated as an ornamental garden plant. The

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

'Longicaudatum' has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

Uses

Licorice fern was chewed for flavor by numerous Native American groups, including the Squamish, Shishalh, Comox,

Nuxalk The Nuxalk people ( Nuxalk: ''Nuxalkmc''; pronounced )'','' also referred to as the Bella Coola, Bellacoola or Bilchula, are an Indigenous First Nation of the Pacific Northwest Coast, centred in the area in and around Bella Coola, British Co ...

Haida Haida may refer to: Places * Haida, an old name for Nový Bor * Haida Gwaii, meaning "Islands of the People", formerly called the Queen Charlotte Islands * Haida Islands, a different archipelago near Bella Bella, British Columbia Ships * , a 1 ...

, and Kwakwaka'wakw. The rhizomes were also usually used medicinally as a treatment for the

cold Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

and

sore throat Sore throat, also known as throat pain, is pain or irritation of the throat. Usually, causes of sore throat include * viral infections * group A streptococcal infection (GAS) bacterial infection * pharyngitis (inflammation of the throat) * tonsi ...

Gallery

File:Polypodium glycyrrhiza JHT IMG 8646.jpg, Growing on log File:Licoricerootcloseup.jpg, Rhizome close-up File:E20161117-0001—Polypodium glycyrrhiza—RPBG (31112849815).jpg, Fronds with and without spores File:USFWS polypodium glycyrrhiza (23748322431).jpg, Young frond

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Polypodium glycyrrhiza''USDA Plants Profile: ''Polypodium glycyrrhiza''Flora of North AmericaWashington Burke Museum''Polypodium glycyrrhiza'' - U.C. Photo gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3395763

glycyrrhiza ''Glycyrrhiza'' is a genus of about 20 accepted species in the legume family (Fabaceae), with a subcosmopolitan distribution in Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Americas. The genus is best known for liquorice (British English; licorice in Amer ...

Ferns of the United States Ferns of California Flora of Alaska Flora of British Columbia Flora of Idaho Flora of the Northwestern United States Flora of Oregon Flora of Washington (state) Flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area Ferns of the Americas Garden plants of North America Flora without expected TNC conservation status