Brazilian-licorice

Periandra mediterranea (Vell.) Taub. (Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae), Brazilian licorice or alcaçuz-da-terra, is a subshrubby perennial 30-100 cm tall, native to the cerrado and campo rupestre vegetation of central and southeastern Brazil, where it grows on sandy and rocky soils, often in open savanna and at woodland margins. The plant arises from a stout, deeply descending woody xylopodium that gives a sweet liquorice flavor when chewed. The aerial stems are slender, branched and sparsely pubescent. Leaves are alternate, trifoliolate, with elliptic to oblong leaflets 2-6 cm long, the terminal larger than the laterals, all with rounded apex and short petiolules. Inflorescences are short axillary or terminal racemes of 2-8 papilionate flowers; corollas are showy, 1.5-3 cm long, deep magenta to bright rose-purple with a paler central blotch, and pollinated by bees. Fruits are flattened oblong legumes 3-6 cm long that dehisce explosively to release 3-6 hard mottled seeds.