Glycyrrhiza
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Glycyrrhiza | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Glycyrrhiza glabra
|
||||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
| Species | ||||||||||||||||
|
~18, see text |
Glycyrrhiza is a genus of about 18 accepted species in the family Fabaceae (Leguminosae), with a subcosmopolitan distribution in Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Americas.
The genus is best known for liquorice (British English; licorice in American English), which is the product of G. glabra, a species native to the Mediterranean region. Very little G. glabra is grown in North America, but American Licorice G. lepidota is a common native species there.
Russian Liquorice (G. echinata) and Chinese Liquorice (G. uralensis, Chinese: gāncǎo, 甘草; lit. "sweet grass" or "sweet herb") are also cultivated, the latter being important in traditional Chinese medicine.
Species include[1]:
- Glycyrrhiza acanthocarpa
- Glycyrrhiza aspera
- Glycyrrhiza astragalina
- Glycyrrhiza bucharica
- Glycyrrhiza echinata - Russian liquorice
- Glycyrrhiza eglandulosa
- Glycyrrhiza foetida
- Glycyrrhiza foetidissima
- Glycyrrhiza glabra - liquorice, licorice
- Glycyrrhiza gontscharovii
- Glycyrrhiza iconica
- Glycyrrhiza korshinskyi
- Glycyrrhiza lepidota - American licorice
- Glycyrrhiza pallidiflora
- Glycyrrhiza squamulosa
- Glycyrrhiza triphylla
- Glycyrrhiza uralensis - Chinese liquorice
- Glycyrrhiza yunnanensis
.jpg/107px-Glycyrrhiza_glabra_(Pile_of_Spanish_wood_chips).jpg) Glycyrrhiza glabra root |
 Glycyrrhiza lepidota plant |
