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8 forms of capital active hope agroecology agroforestry alder buckthorn Amazon anxiety apples arthritis back yard beans Bec Hellouin beech tree bees beneficial berries biochar biodigester biodiversity blackberries blackthorn book review brain brassica cage budget build building campesino capital card deck Celtic festivals change changes chemical-free chickens christmas circular clay pot cleansers cleansing milks climate change climate emergency climate grief climate solutions climbers climbing cob comfrey community compost compost teas connection consciousness conservation container cooking coppice coppicing cordial cosmology courgettes crafts crisis crop protection Cross Quarter Festival cultural emergence culture cycles degraded design diary diversity DIY do it yourself dryland earth care Earth's energy ecoculture economics ecopoetry ecosystem ecosystem restoration camps ecosystems edges edible edible flowers education efficiency elder elderflowers elements elixir energy equinox ethics face mask fair shares Fairtrade farming feedback feminine ferns figs film firewood flower essence flowers food food forest food garden footbath forage foraging forest garden forest gardening forests fruit fruit leather fruit trees fungi future future care gardening garlic gift economy gin Give Nature a voice Glennie Kindred global poverty glut grapes greenhouse grief groundcover grow grow food grow your own growing guilds habitat habits handcream harvest harvests hawthorn hazel hazelnut healing shrubs healing trees health healthy soil heart health hedgerow hedging herbal herbal remedies herbal teas herbalist herbs holistic holistic planned grazing home homeless homemade wine homestead hope Hugelkultur humanure hummus hungry gap IBC tanks Imbolc incense increase yields Indigenous inexpensive influence inspiration International Womens Day jam keyline kitchen garden lacto-fermentation Lammas land landscape landscapes life lifestyle limeflowers livelihood livestock living labs logs Looby Macnamara lotion low cost low-impact Lush Spring Prize macerations Mangwende Orphan Care Trust market garden market gardening marmalade marshmallow mass heater meadowsweet medicinal microbes microfarm Midwest Permaculture mimic mindset mitigation money Morag Gamble moringa Mother Earth mulch multifunctional mushrooms native plants natural natural building natural fertiliser natural skincare natural swimming pool nature nature connection nitrogen no dig no waste no-dig November nutrition nuts observe oca October off-grid oil cleansing orchard orchards organic organic gardening outdoor shower oven oxymel oyster pallets pasture-fed patterns people people care peoplecare perennials permaculture permaculture design permaculture magazine award permaculutre permayouth pesto pests philippines pine tree pips pizza oven plant profile plants pollinators pollution polyculture polycultures preserving principles propagating protection pruning prunings psycho-spiritual awareness psychospiritual transformation rainforest rainwater raspberries recipe recipes reduce reed beds regeneration regenerative regenerative agriculture relative location relative matter remedy renewable renewable energy resources restoration reuse revolution rhythms rootstock rootstocks roundhouse roundwood runner beans sage salad salve Samhain schools Scotland scotts pine seasonal seasons seeds selfcare Sepp Holzer september septic tanks sewage treatment shade sheet mulching shrubs skincare sloes slugs small solutions small-scale smallholding social justice soil health solar solutions sowing spiritual spring squash stacking functions stock-free straw straw bale summer sustainable Sweet Bay syntropic systems temperate terraces thistles thrutopia timber timber framing tincture tonic toolkit tools transformation trees upcycle urban veg garden vegan veganic vermicomposting vinegar walnuts waste water water cleansing watering weeds wellbeing wetland wild edges wild food wild garlic wildflower wildlife wine recipes wings winter winter greens winter salads wood stove woodburner woodland woodland management woodlands worms yarrow year-round food yield young people youth zai pits zone 00 zoning

Topics

8 forms of capital active hope agroecology agroforestry alder buckthorn Amazon anxiety apples arthritis back yard beans Bec Hellouin beech tree bees beneficial berries biochar biodigester biodiversity blackberries blackthorn book review brain brassica cage budget build building campesino capital card deck Celtic festivals change changes chemical-free chickens christmas circular clay pot cleansers cleansing milks climate change climate emergency climate grief climate solutions climbers climbing cob comfrey community compost compost teas connection consciousness conservation container cooking coppice coppicing cordial cosmology courgettes crafts crisis crop protection Cross Quarter Festival cultural emergence culture cycles degraded design diary diversity DIY do it yourself dryland earth care Earth's energy ecoculture economics ecopoetry ecosystem ecosystem restoration camps ecosystems edges edible edible flowers education efficiency elder elderflowers elements elixir energy equinox ethics face mask fair shares Fairtrade farming feedback feminine ferns figs film firewood flower essence flowers food food forest food garden footbath forage foraging forest garden forest gardening forests fruit fruit leather fruit trees fungi future future care gardening garlic gift economy gin Give Nature a voice Glennie Kindred global poverty glut grapes greenhouse grief groundcover grow grow food grow your own growing guilds habitat habits handcream harvest harvests hawthorn hazel hazelnut healing shrubs healing trees health healthy soil heart health hedgerow hedging herbal herbal remedies herbal teas herbalist herbs holistic holistic planned grazing home homeless homemade wine homestead hope Hugelkultur humanure hummus hungry gap IBC tanks Imbolc incense increase yields Indigenous inexpensive influence inspiration International Womens Day jam keyline kitchen garden lacto-fermentation Lammas land landscape landscapes life lifestyle limeflowers livelihood livestock living labs logs Looby Macnamara lotion low cost low-impact Lush Spring Prize macerations Mangwende Orphan Care Trust market garden market gardening marmalade marshmallow mass heater meadowsweet medicinal microbes microfarm Midwest Permaculture mimic mindset mitigation money Morag Gamble moringa Mother Earth mulch multifunctional mushrooms native plants natural natural building natural fertiliser natural skincare natural swimming pool nature nature connection nitrogen no dig no waste no-dig November nutrition nuts observe oca October off-grid oil cleansing orchard orchards organic organic gardening outdoor shower oven oxymel oyster pallets pasture-fed patterns people people care peoplecare perennials permaculture permaculture design permaculture magazine award permaculutre permayouth pesto pests philippines pine tree pips pizza oven plant profile plants pollinators pollution polyculture polycultures preserving principles propagating protection pruning prunings psycho-spiritual awareness psychospiritual transformation rainforest rainwater raspberries recipe recipes reduce reed beds regeneration regenerative regenerative agriculture relative location relative matter remedy renewable renewable energy resources restoration reuse revolution rhythms rootstock rootstocks roundhouse roundwood runner beans sage salad salve Samhain schools Scotland scotts pine seasonal seasons seeds selfcare Sepp Holzer september septic tanks sewage treatment shade sheet mulching shrubs skincare sloes slugs small solutions small-scale smallholding social justice soil health solar solutions sowing spiritual spring squash stacking functions stock-free straw straw bale summer sustainable Sweet Bay syntropic systems temperate terraces thistles thrutopia timber timber framing tincture tonic toolkit tools transformation trees upcycle urban veg garden vegan veganic vermicomposting vinegar walnuts waste water water cleansing watering weeds wellbeing wetland wild edges wild food wild garlic wildflower wildlife wine recipes wings winter winter greens winter salads wood stove woodburner woodland woodland management woodlands worms yarrow year-round food yield young people youth zai pits zone 00 zoning

Medicinal Benefits of Ferns

There are multiple species of ferns and all have many different medicinal uses. Nathaniel Whitmore explores the Native American medicinal uses of ferns that feature in the Delaware River valley.

The Lenni Lenapes and Iroquoians are natives to the Delaware River valley region. The natives as well as the Cherokees used the many available species of ferns for medicinal benefits.

Native American medicinal uses of ferns can be categorized into five major groups, seen below. When a fern species is listed more than once, the Latin name is only used the first time. Some additional uses, such as Cinnamon Fern’s use for snakebite and Maidenhair’s use for heart trouble, go unmentioned in order to keep this list simple, easy to read, and memorable.

Ferns used for rheumatism

Maidenhair (Adiantum pedatum) used for rheumatism.

Marginal Wood Fern (Dryopteris marginalis) used for rheumatism.

Sensitive Fern (Onoclea sensibilis) used for arthritis.

Cinnamon Fern (Osmunda cinnamomea) used externally for rheumatism and internally for joint pain.

Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) used for rheumatism.

Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum) used for rheumatism.

Ferns used for lungs

Maidenhair smoked for asthma.

Maidenhair Speenwort (Asplenium tricomanes) used for coughs.

Rattlesnake Fern (Botrychium virginianum) used as a cough medicine for tuberculosis.

Hay-scented Fern (Dennstaedtia penctilobula) used for chills and lung hemorrhages.

Rock Cap (Polyopdium virginianum) used for sore throat, colds, measles, tuberculosis, cough, and lung congestion.

Christmas Fern used for chills, fever, pneumonia, red spots on skin, listlessness, tuberculosis, and hoarseness.

Bracken Fern used for tuberculosis, infections, and chest pain.

Ferns used for gynecology (including menstrual, postpartum, and breastfeeding)

Walking Fern (Asplenium rhizophyllum) used topically and as emetic for swollen breasts.

Maidenhair Speenwort used for irregular menses and breast diseases.

Lady Fern (Athyrium filis-femina) used for mothers with intestinal fevers and to prevent water breaking.

Mountain Wood Fern (Dryopteris campyloptera) used for disease of the womb.

Ostrich Fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) used as decoction of sterile leaf stalk base for the expulsion of afterbirth and for back pain.

Sensitive Fern (Onoclea sensibilis) used for infection, blood disorders (blood deficiency, cold in the blood, and others), and to restore the female system after childbirth. Externally used for sores.

Cinnamon Fern used for women’s troubles, caked breasts, and malaise.

Interrupted Fern (Osmunda claytoniana) used for weak blood and gonorrhea.

Royal Fern (Osmunda regalis) used for menstrual problems.

Bracken Fern used for weak blood, uterine prolapse, suffering after birth, caked breast, weakness, and headaches.

Marsh Fern (Thelypteris palustris)used as a gynecological medicine.

Ferns used for the blood

Maidenhair used as a wash or poultice for bleeding.

Lady Fern used for vomiting of blood.

Hay-scented Fern used for lung hemorrhages.

Sensitive Fern used for blood deficiency, cold in the blood, and other blood disorders.

Christmas Fern used for weak blood and toxic blood.

Interrupted Fern used for weak blood.

Bracken Fern used to make good blood after menses or childbirth.

Ferns used for digestion (including stomach ache and parasites)

Mountain Wood Fern used for stomachache.

Crested Wood Fern (Dryopteris cristata) used root infusion for stomach trouble.

Royal Fern used for intestinal worms.

Rock Cap used for stomachaches and cholera.

Christmas Fern used for stomachache, bowel problems, toothache, cramps, and diarrhea.

Bracken Fern used for diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, infections, diarrhea, weakness, stomach cramps, and headaches.

Sensitive Fern used for intestinal troubles.

Four common ferns

Maidenhead (Adiantum pedatum)

Grows in North America and East Asia.

Rattlesnake Fern (Botrychium virginianum)

United States, in the mountains of Mexico, in Australia, in some parts of Asia, as the Himalaya Mountains, and is found also in Norway, in the Karelia region of Finland and Russia, and around Gulf of Bothnia, although in no other part of Europe.

Ostrich Fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris)

Also known as fiddlehead ferns or shuttlecock fern, is a crown-forming, colony-forming fern. It grows in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in central and northern Europe, northern Asia, and northern North America.

Bracken Fern (Pteridium aquilinum)

Also known as ‘eagle fern’, Bracken Fern a species occurring in temperate and subtropical regions in both hemispheres. The extreme lightness of its spores has led to its global distribution.

For the full article, explaining how these ferns were made into pulses, medicines and ointments, visit: www.nathanielwhitmore.com/ferns.html