- American Licorice
Taxobox
name = American Licorice
image_width = 240px
regnum =Plant ae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis =Magnoliopsida
ordo =Fabales
familia =Fabaceae
genus = "Glycyrrhiza "
species = "G. lepidota"
binomial = "Glycyrrhiza lepidota"
binomial_authority = (Nutt. ) PurshAmerican Licorice ("Glycyrrhiza lepidota") is a species of "
Glycyrrhiza " native to most ofNorth America , from centralCanada south through theUnited States toCalifornia ,Texas andVirginia , but absent from the southeastern states. It is also sometimes known in the United States as "wild licorice", to distinguish it from the related European Liquorice ("Glycyrrhiza glabra") which is occasionally cultivated.The plant grows in moist soils; although it will grow in heavy soil it prefers sandy soil. It grows to 40–100 cm (16–40 in) tall, and has long tough brown roots which are said to be sweet and were used as food and for medicinal purposes by Native Americans. American Licorice is not sweet from sugar but from
glycyrrhizin , the acid ammonium salt of the tri-basic acid,glycyrrhizic acid . Glycyrrhizin may increaseblood pressure (akahypertension ) by interfering withcortisol conversion.American Licorice is grazed by
cattle , but not preferred and will increase under grazing as competing plants are grazed off. It has light green to white flowers in the spring which ripen in the fall to clusters of burs which contain pods of small bean like seeds.It can be used as a pioneer species to revegetate bare or disturbed ground and is often the first species to invade a receding
alkali flat .There is a market for American Licorice root both for medicinal uses and flavoring; also the sweetening of
tobacco products.External links
* [http://www.usask.ca/agriculture/plantsci/classes/range/glycyrrhiza.html University of Saskatchewan]
*U.S. Department of Agriculture - PLANTS Database - [http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=GLLE3 American Licorice]
* [http://www.umm.edu/altmed/ConsHerbs/Licoricech.html University of Maryland Medical Center]
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