Tree Talk: Green wings, aflutter on tree trunks

It’s one of the subtle joys of Winter in the Pacific Northwest that turn our gray drizzle from seasonal ennui into rhapsody. Licorice Fern, Polypodium glycyrrhiza. You’ll notice them most often as they cling to the trunks or major limbs of trees, looking like colonies of lace-winged moths that have come to rest on the bark. Contrary to the popular belief that these epiphytes grow only on Bigleaf Maples, you’ll see them on Sycamores, Vine Maples, crawling atop rocks or concrete walls, settled into the aged wood of gates and fences, or on the ground.