Asplenium prolongatum

Asplenium prolongatum Hooker, Sp. Fil. 3(pts. 10-12): 209. Nov 1859-Apr 1860. Sec. Cent. Ferns t. 42. 1860.

(Asplenium prolongatum Hook.; Photo Daderot (vi.wikipedia.org) and andrew-leonard.co.uk)

Latin Name: Asplenium prolongatum Hook.

Family & Genus: Aspleniaceae, Asplenium

Synonym Name: Asplenium bipinnatum Roxburgh var. prolongatum (Hooker) Bonaparte; Asplenium rutifolium (Bergius) Kunze var. prolongatum (Hooker) Christ.

English Name: Rue-leaved Spleenwort

Chinese Name: 长叶铁角蕨 chang ye tie jiao jue

Vietnamese Name: Tổ điểu nối dài, Thiết giác lá dài, Ráng can xỉ lá dài.

Description: Plants 20-40 cm tall. Rhizome erect, short, apex scaly; scales dark brown to black, narrowly triangular, with narrow pale brown edges, entire or denticulate. Fronds caespitose; stipe green, 8-18 cm, sulcate adaxially, sparsely covered with small dark brown fimbriate scales when young, later subglabrous; lamina linear-ovate, 10-25 × 3-4.5 cm, bipinnate, apex caudate; pinnae 20-24 pairs, basal pinnae opposite or subopposite, upper alternate, subsessile, lower pinnae usually not reduced, middle pinnae narrowly elliptic to oblong, 1-3 × 0.8-1.5 cm, base nearly symmetrical, cuneate-truncate, pinnate, apex obtuse; pinnules alternate, anadromous, 2-5 pairs, linear, 4-10 × 1-1.5 mm, base adnate to costa, entire, apex obtuse; first acroscopic pinnule 2- or 3-fid. Veins and costa raised adaxially, 1 vein per pinnule or segment, with terminal hydathode, not reaching margin. Fronds subfleshy but thin when dried, green to yellow-green when dry; rachis green, usually prolonged into flagelliform and gemmiferous apex, flat or shallowly sulcate with raised supravascular ridge on adaxial side, abaxially flat. Sori 1 per pinnule or segment, median on acroscopic side of subtending vein, linear, 2.5-5 mm; indusia grayish green, linear, membranous, entire, opening toward costa and margin, persistent.

Ecological: On tree trunks in forests or on wet rocks; 100-2000 m.

Distribution: Found in India, Japan, S Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Vietnam; Pacific islands (Fiji). Distributed in Henan, Gansu, Zhejiang, Taiwan, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong, Hong Kong, Hainan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Tibet and Yunnan. The medicinal materials are mainly produced in the south of the Yangtze River.

Part Used: Medical part: entire plant and leaves. Chinese name: Daoshenglian.

Harvest & Processing: Collected in autumn, well washed, used fresh or sun-dried.

Chemistry: Contains 2-aminopimelic acid, 4-hydroxy-2-aminopimelic acid and kaempferol-3-rhamnoside-7-O-[6-feruloylglucosyl (1→3) rhamnoside], kaempferol 3-rhamnoside-7-O-[6-feruloylglucoside(1→3)rhamnoside]

Properties & Actions: Taste pungent, little bitter, cool in nature. Clearing heat, removing damp, dissipating stasis and relieving pain.

Indications & Usage: Used for cough and excessive phlegm, rheumatic arthralgia, enteritis and dysentery, urinary tract infection, mastitis, hematemesis, hemorrhage due to trauma, injuries from falls, burns and scalding injury. Internal: decocting, 9-30g; or made as medicinal liquor. External use: appropriate amount, fresh used triturated for application; or powdered and scattered.

Examples:

1. Cough and excess phlegm: rue-leaved spleenwort 30g. Decoct in water and swallow.

2. Rheumatic pain: rue-leaved spleenwort 30g. Infuse in wine and swallow.

References

- libproject.hkbu.edu.hk

- efloras.org

- theplantlist.org

- TsukasaIwashina, SadamuMatsumoto, MasamiNishida, ToshiyukiNakaike; New and rare flavonol glycosides from Asplenium trichomanes-ramosum as stable chemotaxonomic markers; Biochemical Systematics and Ecology; Volume 23, Issue 3, April 1995, Pages 283-290

- MizuoMizuno, YosukeKyotani, MunekazuIinuma, ToshiyukiTanaka, KunioIwatsukia; Phytochemistry; Kaempferol 3-rhamnoside-7-[6-feruloylglucosyl (1→3)rhamnoside] from Asplenium prolongatum; Volume 29, Issue 8, 1990, Pages 2742-2743