Licorice Ferns

Polypodium glycyrrhiza, commonly known as licorice fern, many-footed fern, and sweet root, native to western North America, 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.  In the wild Polypodium glycyrrhiza grows on maple or red alder trunks, or on mossy rocks, old stumps or on the ground where they landed after falling out of a tree.  They lose their fronds as the season dries and grows new ones in summer, keeping them through winter.