Polypodium glycyrrhiza very often associated with Acer macrophyllum. The fern is mycorrhizal, meaning it can form root associations with the hyphae of fungi. The sweet flavor of the rhizome was once attributed to the glycoside glycyrrhizin. However, a study has shown that the flavor may actually be due to polypodoside, which is 600 times sweeter than 6% sucrose solution. Licorice fern is cultivated as an ornamental garden plant. The cultivar 'Longicaudatum' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. The licorice fern is sometimes valued for its licorice-flavored rhizome. Occasionally it is chewed, and it can also be brewed into
Ilex glabra consumed by local bird populations. Cultivars of species plants (see for example Ilex glabra 'Shamrock') typically have better form (more compact, less open, less leggy and less suckering) that the species. Genus name in Latin means oak in probable reference to the similarity of the holly leaf to the leaf of a Mediterranean oak known as Quercus ilex (holly oak). Species name means smooth in reference to plant leaf surfaces. Gallberry honey is a highly rated honey that results from bees feeding on inkberry flowers. This honey is locally produced in certain parts of the Southeastern U. S. in areas