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Maidenhair, True | | Name : | Maidenhair, True | | Botanical : | Adiantum Capillus-veneris | | Synonyms : | Capillaire commun, or de Montpellier. Hair of Venus. | | Family : | Filices | | Parts Used : | The herb. | | Habitat : | Southern Europe. Southern and Central Britain. | | Description : | The rootstock is tufted and creeping. The fern grows in masses, the fronds, however, separating and arching apart, giving the appearance of a perfect miniature tree. The stems are slender, of a shining, brownish black, the fronds themselves usually twice or three times pinnate, 6 inches to a foot long, the delicate pinnules fan-shaped, indented and notched. The sori are conspicuous, occupying the extremities of most of the lobes of the pinnules, in oval spots on the inner surface of the indusium, which is formed of the reflexed edge of the pinnule. The pinnules are very smooth: 'in vain,' said Pliny, 'do you plunge the Adiantum into water, it always remains dry.' | | Constituents : | Tannin and mucilage. It has not been very fully investigated. | | Uses : | Has been used from ancient times medicinally, being mentioned by Dioscorides. Its chief use has been as a remedy in pectoral complaints. A pleasant syrup is made in France from its fronds and rhizomes, called Sirop de Capillaire, which is given as a favourite medicine in pulmonary catarrhs. It is flavoured with orange flowers and acts as a demulcent with slightly stimulating effects. Narbonne Honey is generally added to the syrup.Culpepper tells us: 'This and all other Maiden Hairs is a good remedy for coughs, asthmas, pleurisy, etc., and on account of its being a gentle diuretic also in jaundice, gravel and other impurities of the kidneys. All the Maidenhairs should be used green and in conjunction with other ingredients because their virtues are weak.' Gerard writes of it: 'It consumeth and wasteth away the King's Evil and other hard swellings, and it maketh the haire of the head or beard to grow that is fallen and pulled off.' It also enters into the composition of Elixir de Garus. It is employed on the Continent as an emmenagogue under the names of polytrichi, polytrichon, or kalliphyllon, administered as a sweetened infusion of 1 OZ. to a pint of boiling water.
A. pedatum is a perennial fern of the United States and Canada, a little larger than the European variety, used in similar ways and more highly valued by many.
A. lunulatum of India is similarly employed.
A. trapeziforme of Mexico is more aromatic but less valuable medicinally.
A. radiatum and A. fragile of Jamaica and A. Æthiopicum of Ethiopia are both used in medicine. |
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