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American Licorice

 
American Licorice

 
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American Licorice
 
 
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American Licorice (Glycyrrhiza lepidota) is a species of Glycyrrhiza
Glycyrrhiza

Glycyrrhiza is a genus of about 18 accepted species in the family Fabaceae , with a subcosmopolitan distribution in Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Americas....
 native to most of North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, from central Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 south through the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 to California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
, Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
 and Virginia
Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia is an United States U.S. state on the East Coast of the United States of the Southern United States. The state is known as the "Old Dominion" and sometimes as "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of Lists of United States Presidents by place of birth#By state....
, 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
Liquorice

Liquorice or licorice is the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra , from which a sweet flavour can be extracted. The liquorice plant is a legume , related to Anise, Star Anise and Fennel and native to southern Europe and parts of Asia....
 (Glycyrrhiza glabra) which is occasionally cultivated.

The plant grows in moist soils; although it will grow in heavy soil it prefers sandy soil.






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Encyclopedia


American Licorice (Glycyrrhiza lepidota) is a species of Glycyrrhiza
Glycyrrhiza

Glycyrrhiza is a genus of about 18 accepted species in the family Fabaceae , with a subcosmopolitan distribution in Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Americas....
 native to most of North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, from central Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 south through the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 to California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
, Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
 and Virginia
Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia is an United States U.S. state on the East Coast of the United States of the Southern United States. The state is known as the "Old Dominion" and sometimes as "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of Lists of United States Presidents by place of birth#By state....
, 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
Liquorice

Liquorice or licorice is the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra , from which a sweet flavour can be extracted. The liquorice plant is a legume , related to Anise, Star Anise and Fennel and native to southern Europe and parts of Asia....
 (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
Herbalism

Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as botanical medicine, medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, and phytotherapy....
 by Native Americans. American Licorice is not sweet from sugar but from glycyrrhizin
Glycyrrhizin

Glycyrrhizin is the main sweetener from liquorice root that is 30–50 times as potent as sucrose . Pure glycyrrhizin is odorless.Chemically, glycyrrhizin is a triterpenoid saponin glycoside of glycyrrhizic acid....
, the acid ammonium salt of the tri-basic acid, glycyrrhizic acid. Glycyrrhizin may increase blood pressure
Blood pressure

Blood pressure is the pressure exerted by circulating blood on the walls of blood vessels, and constitutes one of the principal vital signs. The pressure of the circulating blood decreases as it moves away from the heart through artery and capillary, and toward the heart through veins....
 (aka hypertension
Hypertension

Hypertension, also referred to as high blood pressure, HTN or HPN, is a medical condition in which the blood pressure is chronically elevated....
) by interfering with cortisol
Cortisol

Cortisol is a corticosteroid hormone or glucocorticoid produced by the adrenal cortex, that is part of the adrenal gland . It is usually referred to as the "stress hormone" as it is involved in response to stress and anxiety, controlled by Corticotropin-releasing hormone....
 conversion.

American Licorice is grazed by cattle
Cattle

Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domestication ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. They are raised as livestock for meat , dairy products , leather and as draft animals ....
, 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
Tobacco

Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the fresh leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as an organic pesticide, and in the form of nicotine tartrate it is used in some medicines....
 products.

External links

  • U.S. Department of Agriculture - PLANTS Database -