Licorice Fern
- Scientific Name: Polypodium glycyrrhiza
- Garden: Xeriscaping Garden
- Plant Type: Herbaceous Perennial
- Evergreen/Deciduous: Evergreen
- Sun/Shade Exposure: Part Shade to Full Shade
- Moisture Requirements: Dry
Plant Information
Our native Licorice Fern that has a backwards season. It emerges all fresh and happy with the first cool weather and rains in autumn and persists that way until hot weather takes hold, then it quietly (and cleanly) disappears. Forms spreading colonies on any light surface including the vertical slopes of rocks and trees. The base of the plant forms an interconnected series of rhizomes that cling to anything. It escapes all drought and heat by summer dormancy. Neat trick. If you detach the fronds and bite into the base of the petiole it delivers a strong anise/licorice flavor. This remarkable plant should be common in living walls and green roofs that would require no supplemental irrigation- and actually thrive and look healthy. Excellent performance in the ground in rich, well drained soil. Water as they say is irrelevant. Highly deer resistant. Oregon native plant.
Plant type: Fern, Ground cover, Herbaceous perennial
Biome: Low Water/No Water, Oregon Coast, Western Native, Willamette Valley Natives
USDA Hardiness zone: Zn4a -25º to -30ºF
Foliage color: Light Green
Foliage season: Evergreen