        |
|
Herbal Glossary | Medicinal Glossary | Herbal Preparations | Ayervedic Formulas | Chinese Formulas Sweet Fern
Scientific Names
Common Names
Parts Usually UsedThe whole herb, mainly the leaves Description of Plant(s) and CultureSweet fern is a strongly aromatic, fernlike deciduous shrub; its
slender, reddish-brown branches grow up to 5 feet high and bear alternate,
short-petioled, linear-oblong leaves that are deeply pinnatifid with
lobes that are broader than they are long. The leaves are soft-hairy,
lance shaped; 3-6 inches long with prominent rounded teeth. Male flowers
grow in cylindrical catkins, female in egg-shaped catkins that develop
into clusters of brown, shining, ovoid, burrlike, nutlets. Where FoundFound on dry hills from Nova Scotia to North Carolina, Georgia mountains;
Ohio, Nebraska, Illinois to Minnesota, Manitoba. Grows in infertile
soils near shores, but it is also a common weedy shrub of dry roadsides,
gravel banks, and woodland clearings. Medicinal PropertiesAstringent, tonic Legends, Myths and StoriesSweet fern is not actually a fern; rather, it is a member of the Bayberry family. The flowers are not showy, and the fruits resemble small, slender cones. For the species C. peregrina, the name peregrina means “foreign”. This is a misnomer from an American perspective: although the plant was foreign to the European botanist who first named it, it is native to North America. Some references refer to sweet fern as belonging to the Wax-myrtle family, but Webster’s Dictionary clearly states it belongs to the Bayberry family. Native Americans used the leaves in smudge fires, and lined their
baskets with them when gathering highly perishable berries. In 1854,
Howard wrote that the leaves make a very pleasant tea, with the addition
of cream and sugar, children rarely refused it. UsesThe primary use has been to relieve diarrhea.
Also can be used for skin problems. Native Americans soaked the leaves
in water to make a was for poison
ivy irritation. Also, Native Americans used it as a beverage,
as a poison, and to stop bleeding: a strong decoction was used externally
for rheumatism and bruises.
Folk remedy for vomiting of blood, leukorrhea, rheumatism. Formulas or DosagesInfusion: steep 1 tsp. plant in 1 cup boiling water. Take 1 to 2 cups per day, a mouthful at a time. Tincture: a dose is 1/2 to 1 tsp.
Bibliography
Herbal Gardening, compiled by The Robison York State Herb Garden, Cornell Plantations, Matthaei Botanical Gardens of the University of Michigan, University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley., Pantheon Books, Knopf Publishing Group, New York, 1994, first edition
|
|
||||
Fern
bush
American Folk Medicine
, by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1973
, by Steven Foster and James A. Duke., Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000Copyright © 1996-2010 Lynn DeVries, all rights reserved.