What are the medicinal values ​​of ferns?

Ferns are widely distributed and can be found in oceans, deserts and plains. They have great medicinal value, which is clearly recorded in the Compendium of Materia Medica. Ferns have many benefits, but many people don’t know about them. I hope that through the narration in this article, everyone can understand ferns. Nature is so magical that it has given us many resources. In addition to knowing the medicinal properties of these plants, we also need to protect nature.

1. Medicinal use

The working people of our country have used ferns to treat diseases for a long time. Many of the plants recorded in Compendium of Materia Medica by Li Shizhen in the Ming Dynasty are ferns. So far, there are at least more than one hundred species of ferns used as medicine. For example, use sea sand to treat urinary tract infection and urethral stones; use Selaginella for external application to treat bleeding from knife wounds; use Selaginella chinensis to treat damp-heat jaundice, edema, vomiting blood and other symptoms; use yindi ferns to treat infantile convulsions; Drynaria can strengthen bones and nourish the kidneys, promote blood circulation and relieve pain; the scales of golden dog can stop bleeding from knife wounds; Quercus can nourish bones and relieve pain, and treat rheumatism and numbness; the rhizome of Cyperus rotundus can treat abdominal pain caused by worms, influenza and other symptoms, and is also used as an insecticide; the black fern is used by the people to treat sores and snake bites, etc.

2. Edible

As early as the beginning of Zhou Dynasty in my country, there were records of Boyi and Shuqi picking ferns at the foot of Shouyang Mountain (now southwest of Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province) and eating ferns. This shows that the working people of my country had already started to eat ferns. The species eaten by humans include ferns, vegetable ferns, osmanthus fern and most species of the order Pteridales. The rhizome of fern is rich in starch (called fern powder), and its nutritional value is no less than that of lotus root powder. It is not only edible but can also be used to make wine. The young leaves of fern have a special fragrance and delicious taste, but before eating they must be soaked in rice water or clean water for several days to remove their toxic components and then fried or dried to make vegetables. There are many high-end restaurants in the United States that purchase young fern leaves (commonly called green fiddleheads) from abroad as high-end food to entertain their customers. The young leaves of ferns, vegetable bracken, water fern, etc. are also often eaten as vegetables.

As mentioned above, I hope it can give you a reference. Ferns can be eaten and made into wine. There are 2,600 species of ferns in China. There are many ferns that are used medicinally to help people relieve physical pain, and they all have significant effects. Lycopodiella cinerea also has the effect of relaxing muscles and activating blood circulation. Patients with rheumatism can use this plant for treatment. Nature is so full of wonders that it is really eye-opening. There are so many plants that are of great help to the human body.