Licorice Fern is also called Sweet Root. A member of the Polypodiaceae Family, Licorice Fern is a deciduous fern with a licorice-favored root (rhizome). It was chewed by Native American Indians for its flavor and used as a medicine for sore throats. Please know that most native NW plants make humans sick, many can kill.  ~1 in 10, with proper preparation, are consumable; even then perhaps only a part of the plant (root, stalk, leaf, or fruit) is edible.   Shown as found on moist banks, growing from logs, or stumps blackened in the Big Burn. Mature specimens are found by Kiosk 9 and 4, growing on blackened cedar stumps; Pilchuck Learning Center’s sponsored Western Washington State University SAM Project extinction possibility is slight; abundant, native to Cascadia.

http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=Polypodium+glycyrrhiza
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polypodium_glycyrrhiza
https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=POGL8
https://burkeherbarium.org/imagecollection/taxon.php?Taxon=Polypodium%20glycyrrhiza 
https://www.plc215.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Kiosk-09.pdf
http://www.burkemuseum.org/research-and-collections/botany-and-herbarium/collections/database/results.php?Genus=Polypodium&Species=glycyrrhiza&SourcePage=search.php&IncludeSynonyms=Y&SortBy=DESC&SortOrder=Year

During the winter, Licorice Ferns

appear to die off
grow lushly
spread their spores

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