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liquorice seed

Licorice is a perennial herb of licorice legumes, alias Urallicorice, sweet root, sweet grass, old country and so on. Its roots and rhizomes are thick, brown and sweet. Odd-pinnate compound leaves, both sides of leaflets densely covered with yellow-brown glandular points and pubescent, margin whole or slightly undulating. Racemes axillary, calyx campanulate; Corolla purple, white, or yellow; The pod is curved sickle-shaped or ring-shaped, densely packed into balls, with dense tuberculates and spiky glands. The flowering period is from June to August and the fruit period is from July to October.

Licorice is distributed in North China, Mongolia, Siberia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and other countries and regions in Eurasia, and in Northeast China, North China and Northwest China. Licorice is native to dry sand, riverbank sand, hillside grassland and salinized soil. Glycyrrhiza enjoys abundant light, low rainfall, large temperature difference between winter and summer and day and night, and has the characteristics of light, drought, heat, salt and alkali resistance and cold resistance.

Glycyrrhiza root and rhizomes for medicinal purposes, beneficial qi, detoxification, harmonizing other drugs and other effects, can treat shortness of breath, abdominal pain, food poisoning and other diseases. Licorice and its extracts have a wide application prospect in food, tobacco, daily chemical and other industries, and can be used as food sweetener and additives in tobacco, toothpaste, cosmetics and other products. Glycyrrhiza licorice forms a network of lateral roots and underground stems in the ground, which has excellent ability to resist wind and sand fixing and prevent soil and water loss, and plays an important role in ecological protection and environmental improvement in arid areas.

Morphological characteristics

Licorice is a perennial herb with a height of 25~120mm.

Roots and stems

The roots and rhizome are stout, 1~3cm in diameter, brown on the outside, light yellow on the inside, sweet. Stem erect, multibranched, 30~120cm tall, densely covered with scaly glandular points, hairy glands and white or brown villi.

leaf

The leaves are odd pinnate compound leaves, 5~20cm long; Stipule triangular lanceolate, ca. 5mm long x 2mm wide, both surfaces densely white pubescent; Petiole densely brown glandular points and pubescent; Leaflets 5 to 17, ovate, long ovate or nearly rounded, 1.5 to 5cm long, 0.8 to 3cm wide, dark green above, green below, both sides densely covered with yellowish-brown glandular points and pubescent, apex obtuse, brachycuspate, base round, margin whole or slightly undulate, more or less recurred.

flowers

Racemes axillary, with many flowers, total pedicels shorter than leaves, densely brown scaly glandular points and pubescent; Bracts oblong lanceolate, 3 to 4 mm long, brown, membranous, outer yellow glandular points and pubescent; Calyx campanulate, 7 to 14mm long, densely yellow glandular points and pubescent, base slanting and bulged cystic, calyx teeth 5, subequal to calyx tube, upper 2 teeth mostly confluent; Corolla purple, white or yellow, 10~24mm long, flag lobe oblong, slightly concave tip, base with short shank, wing lobe shorter than flag lobe, keel lobe shorter than wing lobe; Ovary densely covered with hairy glands.

Fruits and seeds

The pod is curved sickle-shaped or ring-shaped, densely packed into balls, with dense tuberculates and spiky glands. Seeds 3 to 11 seeds, dark green, round or reniform, about 3mm long.

Growth habit

Glycyrrhiza enjoys abundant light, low rainfall, large temperature difference between winter and summer and day and night, and has the characteristics of light, drought, heat, salt and alkali resistance and cold resistance.  The above-ground portion of licorice wilts in late autumn each year, and the roots and rhizomes overwinter in the soil. In the natural distribution area, the rhizomes of licorice sprout and turn green in early spring from March to April (when the temperature is about 15°C), and the new buds grow rapidly. When the temperature is 25 to 30°C, the plant grows the fastest, and when the temperature is more than 30°C, the growth is slow. The budding period is late May, the full flowering period is late June, the fruit begins to bear in late July, and the pod ripens in August to September. In autumn, when the temperature drops below 15°C, the leaves gradually turn yellow and fall off until the plant leaves fall off completely in mid-October.

Wild licorice usually needs to undergo five to six years of growth before partially flowering. The flowering peak of licorice is from 10:00 to 13:00 and from 15:00 to 18:00. As the day progresses, the temperature and light in the morning gradually increase, causing the number of flowers to increase; Under constant heat and light conditions, no new flowers will open; When the temperature is properly lowered and the light is weakened, the number of flowers will increase again.

Mode of reproduction

Natural reproduction

The pollination methods of licorice are both self-pollination and cross-pollination, self-compatibility but heterologous pollination rate is higher, and it is a facultative outcross type of plant. The main pollinating insects are bees and flies. The pollen activity of licorice pollen was the highest on the day of powder dispersal, and remained above 90% in the first 4 days after powder dispersal, and then decreased rapidly. Due to the low number of ovules in normal development after fertilization, glycyrrhiza licorice has low seed setting rate, thick and hard seed skin, poor water permeability, and difficult to germinate. The germination rate of seeds under natural conditions is extremely low, usually less than 10%.

The seedling of licorice is rare in the wild, mainly propagated by root and tiller. The vertical rhizomes of licorice produce horizontal rhizomes that traverse the ground, forming an interwoven network. It will produce buds and adventitious roots and become a new plant.

Artificial breeding

Seeding and propagation

Due to the hard skin of licorice seed, the seeds must be treated before sowing, which can be corroded by sulfuric acid, rice milling and other ways. The planting area is most suitable for spring planting if the spring rainfall is sufficient or the soil moisture is good. The appropriate planting time is from mid-April to early May, when the average temperature of the day exceeds 5℃. In areas with no irrigation conditions and large spring sandstorms, sowing can be delayed until late May to early June.

Rhizome propagation

When harvesting licorice in late autumn or early spring, rhizomes with a diameter of 0.5~1.5cm, straight and short internode can be selected as planting stems from parts other than the coarse roots used for medicinal materials. The selected stems should be cut into small segments 10~15cm long, each segment with 2~3 buds, and planted after soaking with root powder or gibberellin. It can be planted flat or oblique, so that the plant can make full use of nutrients and harvest easier; On salinized wasteland and arid land, it can be planted slightly deeper.

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