Licorice Fern in Moss on Maple Tree

Polypodium glycyrrhiza commonly known as licorice fern, many-footed fern, and sweet root, is a  deciduous fern  native to western North America, including Western British Columbia. It thrives in a humid climate, prevailing in areas with cool and moist summers and warm and wet winters and can often be found growing on the trunks and branches of winter deciduous trees, particularly Big Leaf Maple. It is also often found on rocks, logs, and wet, mossy humus.  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.

Licorice fern acquires its name from its licorice-flavoured rhizome, which was chewed for flavor by numerous Native groups, including the Squamish, Shishalh, Comox, Nuxalk, Haida and Kwakwaka’wakw. The rhizomes were also usually used medicinally as a treatment for the cold and sore throats.