Onoclea sensibilis, Sensitive Fern
Plants for a Future States:
Sensitive fern has not been much used medicinally. However, one native North American Indian tribe did employ it quite widely to treat various women's complaints. An infusion of the root has been used to treat the pain following childbirth. A decoction of the roots has been used to treat fertility in women, to give strength after childbirth, to start the menses, and to treat swellings, cramps and a sore abdomen. An infusion of the whole plant, or just the root, has been applied externally to full breasts where the milk will not flow. A poultice of the plant is used in treating deep cuts.
Although we have found no reports of toxicity for this species, a number of ferns contain carcinogens so some caution is advisable. Many ferns also contain thiaminase, an enzyme that robs the body of its vitamin B complex. In small quantities this enzyme will do no harm to people eating an adequate diet that is rich in vitamin B, though large quantities can cause severe health problems. The enzyme is destroyed by heat or thorough drying, so cooking the plant will remove the thiaminase.
(photo By peganum - https://www.flickr.com/photos/peganum/7163941421/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27186100)
Osmunda Regalis, Royal Fern
Gerard called this fern the Water Fern, but mentioned that it was also called Royal Fern and Osmunda:
Water Fern hath a great triangled stalk two cubits high, beset upon each side with large leaves spread abroad like wings, and dented or cut like Polypody: these leaves are like the large leaves of the Ash tree; for doubtless when I first saw them afar off it caused me to wonder thereat, thinking that I had seen young Ashes growing upon a bog; but beholding it a little nearr, I might easily distinguith it from the Ash, by the brown rough and round grains that grew on the top of the branches, which yet are not the seed thereof, but are very like unto the seed. The root is great and thick, folded and covered over with many scales and interlacing roots, having in the middle of the great and hard woody part thereof some small whiteness, which hath been called the heart of Osmund the Waterman.
It groweth in the midst of a bog at the further end of Hampstead Heath from London, at the bottom of a hill adjoining to a small cottage, and in divers other places, as also upon divers bogs on a heath or common near unto Bruntwood in Essex, especially near unto a place there that some have digged, to the end to find a nest or mine of gold; but the birds were over fledge, and flown away before their wings could be clipped. So saith our author, and it did grow plentifully in both these places, but of late it is all destroyed in the former.
It flourisheth in summer, as the former Ferns: the leaves decay in winter; the root continueth fresh and long lasting; which being brought into the garden prospereth as in his native soil, as myself have proved.
The Names
It is called in Latin Osmunda: it is more truly named Filix palustris, or aquatilis: some term it by the name of Filicastrum: most of the alchemists call it Lunaria maior: Valerius Cordus nameth it Filix latifolia: it is named in High Dutch, Grosz Farn: in Low Dutch, Groot Varen, Wilt Varen: in English, Water-Fern, Osmund the Waterman: of some, Saint Christopher's Herb, and Osmund.
The Temperature.
The root of this also is hot and dry, but less than those of the former ones.
The Virtues.
A. The root, and especially the heart or middle part thereof, boiled or else stamped, and taken with some kind of liquor, is thought to be good for those that are wounded, dry-beaten, and bruised; that have fallen from some high place: and for the same cause the empirics do put it in decoctions, which the later physicians do call wound-drinks: some take it to be so effectual, and of so great a virtue, as that it can dissolve cluttered blond remaining in any inward part of the body, and that it also can expel or drive it out by the wound.
B. The tender sprigs thereof at their first coming forth are excellent good unto the purposes aforesaid, and are good to be put into balms, oils, and consolidatines, or healing plasters, and into unguents appropriate unto wounds, punctures, and such like.
Culpepper wrote:
OSMOND ROYAL OR WATER-FERN
Description. This shooteth forth in spring time (for in the winter the leaves perish) divers rough hard stalks, half round and yellowish, or flat on the other side, two feet high, having divers branches of winged yellowish green leaves on all sides, set one against another, longer, narrower, and not nicked on the edges as the former. From the top of some of these stalks grow forth a long bush of small and more yellow, green scaly anglets, set in the same manner on the stalks as the leaves are, which are accounted the flowers and seeds. The root is rough, thick, and scabby, with a white pith in the middle, which is called the heart therof.
Place. It groweth on moors, and bogs, and watery places in many parts of this land.
Time. It is green all the summer, and the root only abideth in winter.
Government and virtues. Saturn owns the plant. This hath all the virtues mentioned in the former ferns, and is much more effectual than they, both for inward and outward griefs, and is accounted singular good in wounds, bruises, or the like. The decoction to be drank or boiled into an ointment of oil, as a balsam or balm, and so it is singular good against bruises, and bones broken, or out of joint, and giveth much ease to the cholic and splenetic diseases; as also for ruptures or burstings. The decoction of the root in white wine, provokes urine exceedingly, and cleanseth the bladder and passages of urine.
Mrs. Grieve tells us:
The Royal Fern grows abundantly in some parts of Great Britain, chiefly in the western counties of England and Scotland, and in Wales and the west of Ireland. It needs a soil of bog earth and is incorrectly styled the 'Flowering Fern,' from the handsome spikes of fructification. One of its old English names is Osmund the Waterman, and the white centres of its roots have been called the 'Heart of Osmund.'
There is a legend that the wife and daughter of Osmund, a waterman of Loch Tyne, took refuge among Osmundes during an invasion of the Danes.
Osmund is a Saxon word for domestic peace, from os (hoise) and mund (peace).
By some the name Osmunda is said to be derived from the god Thor (Osmunda). Others have traced its derivation from os (a bone) and mundare (to cleanse), in reference to the medicinal uses of the Fern.
The Fern is dedicated to St. Christopher.
---Description---The rootstock is tuberous, large and lobed, densely clothed with matted fibres, often forming a trunk rising perceptibly from the ground, sometimes to the height of a foot or more. It is manyheaded and sends up tufts of fronds, the brown stems of which are cane-like, very tough and wiry, varying from 2 to 3 feet in drier situations, to from 8 to 10 feet in damp, sheltered places when very luxuriant. It is the tallest of our British ferns.
The fronds are twice pinnate, the pinnae far apart, mostly opposite, the pinnules undivided, narrow and oblong, slightly tapering to their apex, smooth, very short-stalked. When young, they are of a very delicate texture and of a reddish colour, changing afterwards to a dull green. The fronds are divided into fertile and barren. The barren fronds are entirely leafy, the fertile fronds are terminated by long, branched spikes of fructification, composed of bunches of clustered thecae or spore cases, green when young and ripening into brown, not covered by an indusium. These fertile fronds are developed in April.
This handsome Fern is easy of cultivation and hardy, and is best transplanted when large.
---Part Used Medicinally---The root, or rhizome, which has a mucilaginous and slightly bitter taste. The actual curative virtues of this Fern have been said to be due to the salts of lime, potash and other earths which it derives in solution from the bog soil and from the water in which it grows.
---Medicinal Action and Uses---A decoction of the root is of good effect in the cure of jaundice, when taken in its early stages, and for removing obstructions of the viscera. The roots may also be made into an ointment for application to wounds, bruises and dislocations, the young fronds being likewise thought 'good to be put into balms, oyls and healing plasters.' A conserve of the root was used for rickets. Gerard says, drawing his information from Dodonaeus and other older herbalists:
'The root and especially the heart or middle thereof, boiled or else stamped and taken with some kinde of liquor, is thought to be good for those that are wounded, drybeaten and bruised, that have fallen from some high place.'
John K’eogh wrote of the Irish tradition:
The roots are good against bruises, dislocations and ruptures. It is sometimes put into healing plasters.
Royal Fern was much used in early American herbal medicine. The Thomsonian Materia Medica states:
OSMUNDA
REGALIS.
Buck-Horn Brake.
MUCILAGINOUS
AND TONIC. For dysentery, or any soreness of the intestinal canal.
Osmunda Regalis. — Radix — the root. Frond bi-pinnate, terminating in several racemes, very branching, and without hairs. It grows on damp ground and meadows. The main root is in shape of a horn, about two inches long.
Medical uses.
— The root of the buck thorn brake is a valuable article in
dysentery, or a sore, tender state of the stomach and bowels. Steeped
in hot water and sweetened with loaf sugar, with the addition of
Holland gin sufiicient to preserve it, it makes an excellent article
to be used in the cases above mentioned, and is also good for female
weaknesses and general debility.
Mucilaginous
Syrup, for Weakly Females.
Take the piths of the roots of
buck-horn brake, bruised; put them into a stone pot and add water,
either cold or hot; beat with a spoon until it is of the consistence
of the white of an egg. Pour off and to one gallon add two pounds of
white sugar, one quart best brandy, two ounces of pulverized caraway-
seed, and one glass of the volatile tincture.
Use. For
weak, nervous patients or women in child bed.
Resources of The Southern Fields and Forests tells us:
OSMUNDACEAE
ROYAL FERN; FLOWERING FERN, (Osmunda regalis, Mx.) Grows in damp soils; collected in St. John's. Fl. July.
Wade's PI. Rariores, 87. Dr. Stokes says that impressions of this fern are observed in nodules of iron stone in the Colebrookdale iron-works, and that it is the only species of an indigenous (European) vegetable which has ever been found in a fossil state, all others being of American growth. Withering, Supplem. to Mer. and deL. Diet, de M. Med. 1846, 536. It is sometimes employed in dropsy, as an astringent in injuries, and by Dr. Heidenreich in the radical cure of hernia; he reports fifty cases ("gueris radicalement") after the method of Simon: giving the root in wine internally, and placing upon the hernial ring compresses which have imbibed the decoction of the plant. Journal de Chim. Med. viii, 395, second series, 1842. In the Diet. Univ. de M. Med. v, 113, its employment in this affection was spoken of. Hermann boasts of it as having a direct action upon the intestinal canal, which it purges mildly in doses of two to four drachms of the powder. It acts upon the bile, augments digestion and strengthens chylification. The extract has been thought peculiarly suited to cases of children affected
with caries, mixed in milk or water, and continued for some time. Aubeil's Obs. sur I'emploi de I'Osmund, Journal Gen. de la Soc. de Med. xlvi, 59, 1843. Lindloy, in his Nat. Syst. Bot. 400, states that it " has been employed successfully in doses of three drachms in the rickets." The leaves have been selected to make cradles for delicate children, from some supposed good effects derived from their use. Bncyclop. Meth. Botanique, iv, 652. The strong resemblance which I have noticed between the taste of this species and spermaceti is quite marked. The plant seems scarcely to bo known in this country, and I observe no notice of it in the American works.
King’s Medical Dispensatory of 1898 states:
This beautiful fern is found in meadows and low moist grounds, throughout the United States, flowering in June. The main root or caudex is the medicinal part; it is about 2 inches long, and has the shape of a buck's horn. It is composed of a number of layers or scales, which are elongated, imbricated, with satiny, translucent margins, and throws out a mass of entangled, delicate radicles. It contains an abundance of mucilage, which is extracted by boiling water. The ash of osmunda consists, to about 50 per cent, of silica. The roots should be collected in August, or about the latter part of May, and dried with great care, as they are apt to become moldy.
The Osmunda cinnamomea, or Cinnamon-colored fern, is inferior to the preceding, but is frequently used for the same purposes. Its root is similar, but much larger, and when its stems are young, during the spring months, they present a white or cinnamon-colored, pubescent appearance, with the leaves circinate and downy.
Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—Mucilaginous, tonic, and styptic. Used in chronic coughs with profuse perspiration, diarrhoea, and dysentery; also as a tonic during convalescence from exhausting diseases. One root, infused in a pint of hot water for half an hour, will convert the whole into a thick jelly. Very valuable in leucorrhoea, and other female weaknesses, and said to be an almost certain cure for rickets, in doses of 3 drachms of the root, 3 times a day. The mucilage mixed with brandy is a popular remedy as an external application for subluxations and debility of the muscles of the back. For internal use, the roots may be infused in hot water, sweetened, and ginger, cinnamon, brandy, etc., added, if not contraindicated.
Plants of The Cherokee informs us that this fern was used in a formula for chills:
“A warm infusion made of the roots of several ferns: Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum pedatum), Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides), Brittle Fern (Cystopteris fragilis), Hay Scented Fern (Dennstaedtia punctiloba) and Cinnamon Fern (Osmunda cinnamomea) are blown upon the person from the east, north west and south in succession, four times in the morning for four days….” An incantation is said by the healer.
Plants for A Future tells us:
The root is astringent, diuretic, tonic and vulnerary. It is useful in the treatment of jaundice and removing obstructions of the viscera. The fronds are used to make compresses for external application to wounds and rheumatic joints - for which purposes they are fairly effective. An infusion of the fronds, combined with wild ginger roots (Asarum species) has been used in the treatment of children with convulsions caused by intestinal worms.
Although we have found no reports of toxicity for this species, a number of ferns contain carcinogens so some caution is advisable. Many ferns also contain thiaminase, an enzyme that robs the body of its vitamin B complex. In small quantities this enzyme will do no harm to people eating an adequate diet that is rich in vitamin B, though large quantities can cause severe health problems. The enzyme is destroyed by heat or thorough drying, so cooking the plant will remove the thiaminase.
(photo By E Wusk - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=149043633)
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Disclaimer
The information on this site is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease or condition. Nothing on this site has been evaluated or approved by the FDA. I am not a doctor. The US government does not recognize the practice of herbal medicine and their is no governing body regulating herbalists. Therefore, I'm just a guy who studies herbs. I am not offering any advice. I won't even claim that anything I write is accurate or true! I can tell you what herbs have "traditionally been used for." I can tell you my own experience and if I believe an herb helped me. I cannot, nor would I tell you to do the same. If you use any herb I, or anyone else, mentions you are treating yourself. You take full responsibility for your health. Humans are individuals and no two are identical. What works for me may not work for you. You may have an allergy, sensitivity or underlying condition that no one else shares and you don't even know about. Be careful with your health. By continuing to read my blog you agree to be responsible for yourself, do your own research, make your own choices and not to blame me for anything, ever.
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