Polypody

Polypodium vulgare

Female Fern Polypody Rock Brake Sweet Fern Wood Licorice Parts used Uses Habitat and cultivation Constituents

Polypody - delicate perennial fern growing to a height of 1 ft (30 cm). Polypody has slender knotty rhizomes and curving fronds that are dotted with brown spores (sori) on their lower surface.

A thousand times sweeter than sugar, the licorice-flavored rhizome, or underground stem, of polypody has been prized since ancient times, not so much for its sweetness as for its medicinal powers. From Greco-Roman antiquity physicians prescribed preparations derived from this lovely evergreen fern as a mild laxative, purgative, and remedy for coughs and chest complaints. For all these uses, "rheum-purging polypod," as the Elizabethan poet Michael Drayton styled it, enjoyed a good reputation down to modern times. Herbalists also recommended preparations of the dried and powdered rhizome for internal use to expel tapeworms and for external use as a liniment.

Because polypody is often found clinging to oak trees, herbalists believed it absorbed the vigor of that mighty tree, and as late as the 18th century, they would use only "polypody of the oak." Even the fern spores were thought to have supernatural powers: anyone who carried them, people said, became invisible. The name polypody comes from a Greek word meaning "many-footed," and alludes to the appearance of the plant's branching rhizomes, which may be fancied to look like many feet.

PARTS USED

Rhizome.

USES

Polypody stimulates bile secretion and is a gentle laxative. Traditionally, polypody has been used in European herbal medicine as a treatment for hepatitis and jaundice, and as a remedy for indigestion and loss of appetite. Polypody makes a safe treatment for constipation in children. The rhizome is also expectorant, having a supportive and mildly stimulating effect on the respiratory system. It may be taken for the relief of congestion, bronchitis, pleurisy, and dry irritable coughs. The rhizome combines well with marsh mallow.

HABITAT AND CULTIVATION

Native to Europe and northern Asia, polypody is commonly found growing in damp woodland and thickets, and on walls. The rhizome is unearthed in autumn.

CONSTITUENTS

Polypody rhizome contains saponins (based on polypodosapogenin), ecdysteroids, phloroglucins, volatile oil, fixed oil, and tannins.