Additional notes (click to expand)

Medicinal

Culpeper recommends a syrup made of the leaves for ‘hardness and stoppings of the spleen and liver, and the heat of the stomach, lax and the bloody flux’. He recommends a distillation of the leaves ‘against the passions of the heart, to stay the hiccough, to keep the falling of the palate’. He goes on to recommend the distillation as a remedy for bleeding gums, when used as a gargle.
Culpeper (attributed to) , N. Culpeper's Complete Herbal. W. Foulsham, London.

Nomenclature

Asplenium from Greek 'splen', relating to its use as a herb for the spleen Scolopendrium from Greek 'skolopendra', meaning millipede, and a reference to the arrangement of the spores on the underside of the fronds.
Stearn, W.T.. (1992). Stearn's Dictionary of Plant Names for Gardeners. Cassell.

Geographical distribution

  • Africa, Macaronesia, Canary Is.
  • Africa, Northern Africa, Algeria
  • Africa, Northern Africa, Libya
  • Africa, Northern Africa, Morocco
  • Africa, Northern Africa, Tunisia
  • Asia-Temperate, Caucasus, North Caucasus
  • Asia-Temperate, Caucasus, Transcaucasus
  • Asia-Temperate, China
  • Asia-Temperate, Eastern Asia, Japan
  • Asia-Temperate, Eastern Asia, Korea
  • Asia-Temperate, Russian Far East
  • Asia-Temperate, Western Asia, Israel
  • Asia-Temperate, Western Asia, Jordan
  • Asia-Temperate, Western Asia, Lebanon-Syria
  • Asia-Temperate, Western Asia, Turkey
  • Europe, Eastern Europe
  • Europe, Middle Europe
  • Europe, Northern Europe
  • Europe, Northern Europe, Great Britain
  • Europe, Northern Europe, Ireland
  • Europe, Southeastern Europe
  • Europe, Southwestern Europe

Asplenium scolopendrium L.

Family: ASPLENIACEAE
Genus: Asplenium
Species: scolopendrium L.
Common names: Hart's Tongue Fern; Burnt Weed; Button Hole; Christ's Hair.
Pharmacopoeia Londinensis name: Scolopendrion/Ceterach
Distribution summary: Eurasia, N.America
Habit: Perennial
Hardiness: H5 - Hardy; cold winter
Habitat: Damp, humus-rich soil in partial shade, on rocky hillsides, streamsides & clearings
Garden status: Currently grown
Garden location: Plants of the World (C), Pharmacopoeia Londinensis 1618 'Leaves' (HSE 6)
Reason for growing: Medicinal


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