Wild Licorice is a US native, belonging to the family fabaceae, which also makes it a nitrogen fixer (returns nitrogen to the soil, rather than depleting it.)
 
Licorice has long brown roots with a sweet taste, said not to be unlike sweet potatoes. American licorice is not sweet from sugar but from glycyrrhizin.
 
It has a long history of use by Native Americans for medicinal purposes as well as sweeteners for tobacco.
 
It has clusters of pretty white flowers 
 
Grows up to 18 inches in cooler zones and 3 feet in warmer zones
 
Perennial zones 3-10
 
This is for 40 seeds