Male Fern, Dryopteris filix-mas; (Dryopteridaceae)

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(Dryopteridaceae)</B></I></div> <div> <I><B><IMG SRC="dddf7e20.jpg" border=0 width="247" height="226" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">DESCRIPTION</B></I></div> <div> The root-stock or rhizome is short, stumpy and creeping, lying along the surface of the ground or just below it. From its undersurface spring the slender, matted roots. The crown of the rhizome is a brown, tangled mass, with the hairy bases of the leaves, and in it is contained the mass of undeveloped fronds, which, as they unroll, grow in a large circular tuft and attain a length of from two to four feet. Each frond is wide and spreading, stiff erect, broadly lanceolate or lance-shaped, the stalk covered with brown scaly hairs. The pinnae are arranged alternately on the mid-rib (which is also hairy), the lower ones decreasing in size, and each pinna divided again almost to its own mid-rib, the pinnules being oblong and rounded, with their edges slightly notched and their surface somewhat furrowed. The sorus are on the upper half of the frond, at the back of the pinnules, in rounded masses towards the base of the segments, covered with a conspicuous, kidney-shaped indusium (Gri:301).</div> <div> The rhizome as used in commerce is three to six inches long, and with the closely imbricated and slightly curved remnants of the stipes two to three inches thick. The latter remains green for about a year, after which it turns brown and is not fit to use. The rhizome itself is fleshy, externally dark brown, internally pale green and spongy, showing upon the transverse section near the surface eight larger flbro-vascular bundles arranged in an interrupted circle, outside of which are a number of smaller ones. The stipes have about eight small vascular bundles in a loose circle. The spongy texture is due to the thin-walled parenchyma and to the large intercellular spaces, into which stalked glands project which exude a green liquid. The rhizome has a slight disagreeable odor and a sweetish afterward, somewhat bitter astringent and nauseous taste.</div> <div> <I><B>GENERAL</B></I></div> <div> Dr. Christopher said that Male Fern is one of the most powerful anthelmintics available. He classed anthelmintic herbs into four classes: the vermifuges, which cause the expulsion of worms from the body; the vermicides, which destroy worms in the body; the taeniafuge, which expel tapeworms from the body; and the taeniacide, which kill tapeworms from the body. Male Fern is a taeniafuge and a vermifuge, as well as an astringent, tonic, and vulnerary (herb to help heal wounds). Dr. Christopher commented that Male Fern is the only herb that works as a specific for tapeworms. Tapeworm can be controlled by the multiple vermifuge formula that Dr. Christopher made up, but Male Fern will do the work alone. The tapeworm is really quite a delicate creature, yet one of the most powerful. It is small, pliable, and easy to break, but it will sap every bit of strength out of a grown man if it is allowed to remain in the system, causing him to starve to death.</div> <div> <I><B>COMMON FERN</B></I></div> <div> Next to Bracken this Plant is one of the most common Ferns, growing luxuriantly in shady places and on sheltered banks. It grows everywhere in the United States, and Europe, temperate Asia, North India, North and South Africa, and the Andes. In sheltered spots, it will sometimes remain green all winter long. To forest dwellers and cultivators of Fern gardens, it is a most common sight.</div> <div> The root of the plant was used by the ancients as a vermifuge. Theophrastus, Dioscorides and Pliny all describe its use. It was used as a domestic remedy for worms throughout the Middle Ages and finally was recorded by Valerius Cordus as a drug to be taxed in Germany in the sixteenth century. It was somewhat neglected for a while, then revived as a chief ingredient, combined with purgatives, in a secret remedy for tapeworm, one of the promoters being Daniel Mathieu, an apothecary of Berlin. It was so successful that Frederick the Great purchased the formula for an annuity of thirty pounds, conferring on its originator the title of “Aulic Councillor”. Madame Nouffler, the widow of a surgeon at Murten, Switzerland, was paid 18,000 livres by Louis XIV for a tapeworm cure consisting chiefly of the powder of the Male Fern root. J. Peschier, a pharmacist of Geneva, introduced the extract in ether in 1825, which was not, however, employed in England to any extent until the middle of the last century. Its great success introduced Male Fern to the orthodox medical profession. To this day, the plant is recognized in the United States Pharmacopeia and other official pharmacopeias in various countries.</div> <div> Gerard wrote: “The roots of the Male Fern, being taken in the weight of half an ounce, driveth forth long flat worms, as Dioscorides writeth, being drunk in mede or honied water, and more effectually if it be given with two scruples, or two thirds part of a dram of scammonie, or of black hellebore; they that will use it, must first use garlicke.”</div> <div> One of the official names of this plant, Aspidium, is derived from aspis, a shield, because the spores are thus enclosed in bosses, resembling the shape of the round shields of ancient days (Gri:300). Another name for it is the Shield Fern, as the undersides of the leaflets are covered with numerous kidney-shaped scales, shielding the spore sacs.</div> <div> The classification of the order Filices is according to fructification. The dust-like and almost invisible seeds or spores of Ferns are contained in little cases or theca of a roundish shape, which are themselves encircled by a jointed ring, the elasticity of which eventually bursts open the theca and scatters the spores when mature. These seeds are so tiny as to be almost invisible, and the “Doctrine of Signatures” states the use of the Fern will confer invisibility (Coon: 103). In Henry IV, Act II Scene 1, Shakespeare wrote, “We have the receipt of fern seed; we walk invisible.”</div> <div> Other common names include bear paw's root, male shield, sweet brake, shield root, knotty brake, marginal shield fern and European aspidium.</div> <div> <I><B>TAENIAFUGE</B></I></div> <div> Male Fern has sometimes been used as a tonic and vulnerary in China; it is used for wounds and hemorrhages, such as epistaxis, menorrhagia, and postpartum hemorrhage (Shi:282). Old time herbalists recommended that it be mixed with lard, to be applied to wounds, and that the powdered roots cured rickets in children (Gri:302). However, its most prominent usage has been that of a vermifuge, particularly in cases of tapeworm.</div> <div> The rhizomes and stipes contain an oleoresin that paralyzes the voluntary muscles of the intestine as well as the analogous contractile tissue of the tapeworm; although it does not kill the parasite, the paralyzed worms are readily washed out the tract by an active purgative (Lewis and Elvin-Lewis:200). Besides the vermicidal action, there is a slightly purgative one of its own, though not enough to expel the paralyzed worms. Some recommend that the patient fast for a day or two before taking tapeworm remedies, but Dr. Christopher recommended against this practice, because the worm being a parasite, cannot be starved. This only makes the patient feel weak and nauseated, and when he finally takes the medicine on a starved stomach, he may vomit it up. Dr. Christopher recommended instead to advise the patient to eat, for a day or so, foods that the tapeworm dislikes, such as onions garlic, pickles, and salted fish. This weakens the worm and tends to loosen his grip, so that when the medicine is taken, it acts upon the tapeworm and causes it to be expelled more easily (SNH: 106).</div> <div> However, a person might go on the three-day cleanse before undergoing worm therapy. Thereafter, the Doctor recommended taking ½ to one teaspoonful of the powdered Male Fern root in the morning on an empty stomach (in a capsule, in honey, or in an emulsion with the thick mucilage of gum arabic and water), followed by a brisk purge of senna and ginger or butternut bark; or take 30 drops of the oil night and morning followed by the brisk purge. The dose should continue for three days even if you are seeing the worms emerge in the stool. You should examine the stools closely and remember that the thinnest part of the worm carries the head; be sure this is eliminated, as the tapeworm has the annoying ability of being able to grow a new tail if the head remains intact. For children, mix equal parts of fluid extract and glycerine, shaking well together. For ages 4-7, give six drops in jam; 7-12 years, give 12 drops in jam; over twelve years, give one or two teaspoonfuls in a half teacupful of cold water; follow with a cathartic tea (two ounces of senna, a half ounce of mountain flax, 1 large sliced lemon, steeped for thirty minutes in two pints of boiling water). Give the worm medicine at 6 a.m. on an empty stomach, give the cathartic tea (to older children as above) at 8 a.m., and serve breakfast at 9 a.m. (SNH: lll).</div> <div> Many doctors recommend that the bowels should contain no accumulation of partially-digested food or of feces, and the vigor of the parasite be reduced by as simple a diet as can be borne. Almost any cathartic can be used, such as Cascara sagrada, butternut bark, turkey rhubarb, and so on, but castor oil should be avoided. Even Epsom salts have been used. The oil may promote absorption of the herb, which can be poisonous. The herb has caused allergy reactions in some, but this is only mild compared to what can result from overdose of the plant, although we do not agree that even a therapeutic dose may cause poisoning (Spoerke: 113), some of the symptoms of Male Fern poisoning are nausea, vomiting, cramping, headache, dyspnea, albuminuria, and bilirubinuria. Severe poisoning results in loss of reflexes, optic neuritis, impairment of vision, temporary or permanent blindness, coma, convulsions, and death due to cardiac or respiratory failure (Ibid.). The herb should surely be administered by a skilled person; Rose, who is normally blithe and easy-going about the uses of herbs, recommends that it only be used on prescription from a doctor (Rose:Herbs:80). Coon says that the ethereal extract should be given at night in capsule form at the rate of a single dose of one drachm, followed by a purgative, as mentioned above (Coon: 103). If one is unsure about dosage, this should be a good safe rule to follow.</div> <div> The dose taken by herbal powder is sometimes too small, and failure is then due to the smallness of the dose. However, the too-large dose can produce such serious results--even causing blindness-that one should be very careful in the use of the root powder.</div> <div> <I><B>MISCELLANEOUS USES</B></I></div> <div> The ashes of the plant have been used in soap and glass making, and the young curled fronds have been boiled and eaten like asparagus; these are called fiddleheads. In times of great scarcity the Norwegians used the fronds to mix with bread and also made them into beer. The leaves, cut green and dried, make an excellent bitter, and when infused in hot water make good fodder for sheep and goats (Gri:30 1).</div> <div> <I><B>HISTORICAL USES</B></I></div> <div> Used for tapeworms, wounds and hemorrhoids.</div> <div> <I><B>CULTIVATION, COLLECTION, PREPARATION</B></I></div> <div> Ferns prefer a northern aspect, shade and shelter not being indispensable but tending to their finer and most perfect condition and growth. Even in desert climates, such as Utah, we have seen delightful fern gardens tending to these criteria. They flourish best in a soil that is a mixture of peat, earth, and sand, pebbles being intermixed for the roots in many instances to cling to. The only manure needed is that from dried leaves or other vegetable matter. They should not be set too deep and are best kept rather moist. Attention should be paid in cultivation to the natural habits of the species. Ferns may be raised from the spores if carefully potted and looked after (Gri:300).</div> <div> The older rhizomes should be lifted in autumn after the foliage has died down, although for emergency use they can be collected during the winter or early spring. The rhizome should be from three to six inches or more long and from one-and-one-half to two inches or more broad. When removed from the ground, it is cylindrical and covered with the closely-arranged, overlapping remains of the leaf-stalks of the decayed fronds. These stalks are from one to two inches long, somewhat curved, angular, brown-colored, and surrounded at the base with thin, silky scales of a light brown color. From between these remains of the leaf stalks, the black, wiry, branched roots may be seen. Internally in the fresh state, the rhizome is fleshy and of a light yellow-green color. The rhizome must have this color to be good. It should have its scales removed, roots and all dead portions likewise, leaving the lower swollen portion attached to the rhizome, and then it should be carefully cleaned. It is then sliced in half longitudinally. For pharmaceutical use, it is reduced to a coarse powder and at once exhausted with ether. It can also be made into a tincture or an extract. The root loses its potency within a year, so the fresh preparations of tincture or extract are recommended (Gri:30 1).</div> <div> Because the Male Fern is much more efficacious than other Fern species which are sometimes tried as adulterants, you can tell from a root-section of the proposed plant if it is true or not. The section of Felix-mas exhibits eight wood bundles, forming an irregular circle, while in the other ferns only two are observed. The presence of secreting cells in the hard tissue, the number of bundles at the base of the leaf stalk, and the absence of glandular hairs from the margin of the scales all distinguish Male Fern from the other species (Iki4±)</div> <div> <I><B>RELATED PLANTS</B></I></div> <div> Aspidium spinulosa, Shield Fern, is similar to the Male Fern in medicinal use and has always been mixed therewith in Europe.</div> <div> Asplenium Felix-femina, the Lady Fern, is used like the Male Fern medicinally, but is much less powerful in action.</div> <div> Asplenium ceterach, Scaly Fern or Spleenwort, is said to remove all obstructions of the spleen and liver.</div> <div> Asplenium trichomanes, Maidenhair Fern, is chiefly used for pectoral complaints.</div> <div> Polypodium vulgare, FeMale Fern, is used somewhat like the Male Fern.</div> <div> <I><B>CHEMICAL COMPOSITION</B></I></div> <div> The chief constituents are filmaron, an amorphous acid, and cilicic acid, which is also amorphous and tends to degenerate into its inactive crystalline anhydride, filicin. The fihicic acid is regarded as the chief, though not the only, active principle.</div> <div> Please note that, handled skillfully and with proper care, these chemicals will not harm the body if used in the form of the whole herb.</div> <div> <I><B>RECENT FINDINGS</B></I></div> <div> There are few reports of poisoning of cattle by ferns of the dryopteris family. Characteristic features are blindness, a peculiar desire to stand in water, profound drowsiness but low mortality. This report described two cows who had eaten a great deal from a stand of ferns which, when allowed to regrow, were identified as Dryotopteris borreri, the rusty Male Fern, and Drvopteris felix-mas, Male Fern. The two animals became blind and comatose, by evening, not able to rise. They responded to no therapy, nether Vitamin B and C complex or dexamtheasone. Various physical reactions in the body indicated poisoning by the ferns (“Poisoning in cattle associated with D. felix mas...” The Veterinary Record, March 18, 1978, p. 239).</div> <div> Another study indicated that one drop of an extract from the Male Fern, either alone or mixed with sunflower seed oil, caused a spectacular enlargement of the penis in male mice and rats. This unexpected effect could not be explained so far by the researchers and needed further experimentation (“Preliminary report on an unexpected effect of an extract from Dryopteris felix-mas”, Arzneim Forsch, Feb. 1976, Vol.26:2, p.261-2).</div> <div> <I><B>DR. CHRISTOPHER'S COMBINATIONS CONTAINING MALE FERN</B></I></div> <div> VF, the vermifuge combination, contains Male Fern.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="e8370530.jpg" border=0 width="368" height="595" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=24 BGCOLOR="#FFFBF0" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="cc203181eearkz.gif"> <div>  <A HREF="100hs_lobelia___lobelia_inflata.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lobelia, Lobelia inflata (Campanulaceae)">100HS Lobelia,  Lobelia inflata</A> < Previous  |  Next > <A HREF="100hs_marigold__calendula_officinalis.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Marigold, Calendula officinalis: (Compos">100HS Marigold, Calendula officinalis</A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>