Polypodium glycyrrhiza D.C.Eaton

Stems not whitish pruinose, slender to moderately stout, to 6 mm diam., intensely sweet, licorice-flavored; scales concolored, brown or slightly darker near point of attachment, lanceolate to lanceolate-ovate, symmetric, margins entire. Leaves to 75 cm. Petiole usually slender, 0.5--2 mm diam. Blade lanceolate-ovate to oblong, pinnatifid, widest near middle or just below, to 16 cm wide, herbaceous, rarely slightly leathery; rachis sparsely scaly to glabrescent abaxially, puberulent adaxially; scales linear, usually less than 3 cells wide. Segments linear to oblong, less than 12 mm wide; margins serrate; apex acute to attenuate; midrib puberulent adaxially. Venation free. Sori midway between margin and midrib or slightly closer to midrib, usually less than 3 mm diam., circular to oval when immature. Sporangiasters absent. Spores less than 58 µm, verrucose, with surface projections less than 3 µm. 2 n = 74.

Rocks, mossy tree trunks, logs etc, below 600 metres in coniferous and mixed forests in California. Cliffs and rocky slopes along coasts, often epiphytic, on a variety of substrates.

The root or rhizome has a licorice flavour and is used for flavouring. The roots can be dried and stored. They are eaten as a famine food.