liquorice

See Licorice.

Used in confectionery and to flavour medicines; liquorice root and extract are obtained from the plant Glycyrrhiza glabra; stick liquorice is the evaporated extract of the root. The plant has been grown in the Pontefract district of Yorkshire since the sixteenth century; hence the name Pontefract cakes for the liquorice sugar confectionery. See also glycyrrhizin.

The noun has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: deep-rooted coarse-textured plant native to the Mediterranean region having blue flowers and pinnately compound leaves; widely cultivated in Europe for its long thick sweet roots
  Synonyms: licorice, Glycyrrhiza glabra

Meaning #2: a black candy flavored with the dried root of the licorice plant
  Synonym: licorice