Adiantum flabellulatum L.

Adiantum flabellulatum L.

(Adiantum flabellulatum L.; Photo P. Karaket)

Latin Name: Adiantum flabellulatum L.

Family Adiantaceae; Genus: Adiantum.

Synonym Name: Adiantum amoenum Wall. ex Hook. & Grev.; Adiantum fuscum Retz.

English Name: Fan-leaved Maidenhair, Maidenhair ferns

French Name: Chevelure, sieplier

Indonesia Name: suplir

Vietnamese Name:  tóc vệ nữ.

Philippines Name: kulantrillo de Alambre, lettuce de Alambre

Chinese name: 扇叶铁线蕨 shan ye tie xian jue

Thailand Name: foen kan dam (central), kut pha (northern), phak waen han (eastern)

Description: Plants terrestrial, 20-45 cm tall. Rhizomes erect, short, scales dense, yellowish to brown, glossy, linear-lanceolate, margins entire. Fronds clustered; stipe black-purple, glossy, 10-30 cm, adaxially grooved with short stiff brown hairs inside, base covered with same scales as rhizome, distally glabrous; lamina pedately 2- or 3-dichotomously branched, flabellate in outline, 10-25 cm, middle pinnae usually longer, 1-imparipinnate; costae and stalks purple-black, abaxially glabrous, adaxially with dense, short, brown-red hairs; middle pinnae 1-pinnate, linear-lanceolate, 6-15 × 1.5-2 cm; outer pinnae similar but slightly shorter, up to 5 cm; pinnules 8-15 pairs per pinna, alternate, horizontally spreading; stalk 1-2 mm; blade below middle ± uniform in size, dimidiate-semi-orbicular when fertile, rhomboid when sterile, 6-15 × 5-10 mm, thinly leathery, green or dark brown, both surfaces glabrous, base broadly cuneate or flabellately cuneate, inner and lower margins straight and entire, outer and upper margins subrounded or rounded-truncate, fertile parts shallowly sinuate, segments entire, sterile parts denticulate; distal pinnules similar but slightly smaller; terminal pinnules obovate or flabellate, equal to or slightly larger than lower pinnules; veins multidichotomously forked and reaching margins, visible on both surfaces. Sori 2-5 per pinnule, horizontal, at upper and outer margins of segments; false indusia dark brown, semi-orbicular or oblong, glabrous, upper margins flat and straight, entire, persistent. Perispore indistinctly granular. 2n = 116.

Distribution: Growing in thin forests at altitude 100-1,200m, slope roads nearby or tussock. Distributed in Southwest China, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Taiwan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Hainan, Guangxi.

Part Used: Medical part: whole plant or roots. Chinese name: Guotanlong.

Harvest & Processing: Harvested throughout the year, well washed, used fresh or sundried.

Chemistry: Whole plant contains flavonoid glycosides, essential oil, phenols, organic acids, amino acids and saccharides...

- The chemical composition of the oils in roots and leaves comprised 94.6% of the volatile fraction. The main constituents of the oil in the roots were n-decanoic acid (11.44%), 6,10,14-trimethyl-2-pentadecanone (11.23%), diethyl phthalate (8.63%), and nonanoic acid (6.15%). Thirty-eight compounds in the leaves of A. flabellulatum were identified, which comprised 91.64% of the volatile fraction. The main constituents were n-decanoic acid (11.77%), 2-isopropenyl-4a,8-dimethyl-1,2,3,4,4a,5,6,7octahydronaphthalene (10.63%), [1R-(1α,7β,8aα)]-1,2,3,5,6,7,8,8a-octahydro-1,8a-dimethyl-7-(1-methylethenyl)-naphthalene (9.88%), α-panasinsen (8.11%), 4-tetradecyne (6.63%), β-pinene (5.16%), and nonanoic acid (4.01%

Properties & Actions: Bitter, pungent, cool. Clearing heat and dampness and detoxifying.

Pharmacology: Analgesic activity

Indications & Usage: Influenza and pyrexia, diarrhea, dysentery, jaundice, stranguria caused by urinary stones, anthracia, scrofula, bites by snakes and insects, swelling and pain caused by falls. Oral administration: decocting, 15-30g; fresh products: doubled in amount; or smashed to extract juice. External application: appropriate amount, powdered for applying or infused with water or wine.

Examples:

1. Infantile high fever and convulsion: fresh leaves of guotanlong 15-30g, mash into paste, add cold boiled water and swallow.

2. Scalding: (guotanlong) whole herb (an appropriate amount), mix with tung oil and mash into paste, smear onto the lesions.

References

- libproject.hkbu.edu.hk

- efloras.org

- theplantlist

- Wenyi KangWenyi KangZ. Q. JiJ. M. Wang; Composition of the essential oil of Adiantum flabellulatum;July 2009 Chemistry of Natural Compounds 45(4):575-577

- Shahriar, M., & Kabir, S.; Analgesic activity of Adiantum flabellulatum. Dhaka University Journal of Biological Sciences, 20(1), 91-93.