Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The economic uses and associated folklore of ferns and fern allies

  • Published:
The Botanical Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

Ferns (and their allies) have an interesting history which is reflected in folklore and legends. “FERN SEEDS” were thought to make one invisible. The possessor of these “SEEDS” allowed the finder to understand the language of birds, find buried treasure, and have the strength of forty men. Historically, they have been an important source of drugs, food, and fibers as well as other products. Fern dyes are being widely used. Ferns, which are eaten worldwide, are currently being explored as a possible source of carcinoma in humans when ingested. This paper is a compendium of fern uses and folklore.

Sommaire

Les fougères (et leurs apparentes) ont une histoire intéressante qui se reflète à travers le folklore et les légendes. “La semence des fougères,” pensait-on, avait la propriété de rendre invisible. Le possesseur de cette “semence” permettait à celui qui la trouvait de comprendre le langage des oissaux, de trouver des trésors ensevelis et d’acquérir la force d’hommes robustes. Historiquement parlant, elle était une source importante de produits médicinaux, alimentaires, fibroux et beaucoup d’autres. La teinture de fougères est d’un usage très répandu. On est en train d’étudier actuellement les fougères que l’on mange à travers le monde, comme étant une source possible de carcinoma chez les êtres humains, une fois ingérées. Cette étude est un condensé de divers usages des fougères et de leur folklore.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature Cited

  • Angier, Bradford. 1972. Feasting Free on Wild Edibles. Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arctander, Steffen. 1960. Perfumes and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin. Elizabeth, New Jersey.

  • Barton, Benjamin H. 1877. Medicinal Plants of Great Britain. Thomas Castle, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bearfoot, Will. 1975. Mother Nature’s Dyes and Fibers. Charles Scribner, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benedict, Ralph C. 1915. “Fern Hats and Fern Cigar Cases.” Amer. Fern J.5: 7–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • —. 1941. “The Gold Rush: A Fern Ally.” Amer. Fern J.31: 127–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bentley, Robert. 1880. Medicinal Plants. J. A. Churchill, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billington, Cecil. 1952. Ferns of Michigan. Cranbrook Institute of Science Bulletin 32.

  • Bouquet, A. 1974. Plantes Medicinales de la Côte d’Ivoire. Oratom, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brouk, B. 1975. Plants Consumed by Man. Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, William H. 1951. Useful Plants of the Philippines. Technical Bulletin 10. Dept. of Ag. and Nat. Resources Bureau of Printing, Manila.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burgen, A. S. V. andJ. F. Mitchell. 1972. Gaddum’s Pharmacology. Oxford U. Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burkill, I. H. 1966. A Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay Peninsula. Gov’t of Malaysia and Singapore., Kuala Lumpar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chopra, R. N., S. L. Nayar andI. C. Chopra. 1956. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coon, Nelson. 1963. An American Herbal-Using Plants for Healing. Hearthside Press Inc., New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Core, Ernest L. 1967. “Ethnobotany of S. Appalachian Aborigines.” Economic Botany21: 203.

    Google Scholar 

  • Corne, F. C. 1924. “Ferns, Facts and Fancies about Them.” II. Am. Fern J.14: 77–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Copeland, E. B. 1942. “Edible Ferns.” Am. Fern J.32: 121–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crooks, Marguerite. 1963. New Zealand Ferns. Whitcombe and Tombs, Ltd. Christchurch, N.Z.

    Google Scholar 

  • Culpeper, Nicholas. undated. Culpeper’s Complete Herbal. W. Foulsham and Co., London, England.

  • Dean, Blanche E. 1969. Ferns of Alabama. Southern University Press, Birmingham, Ala.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dowling, Alfred E. P. 1900. The Flora of the Sacred Nativity. Kagan Paul, Trench Trubner and Co., Ltd., London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Durand, Herbert. 1949. Field Book of Common Ferns. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dymock, William. 1890. Pharmacographia Indica—A History of the Principal Drugs of Vegetable Origin met within British India. Kegan Paul, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eckey, E. W. 1954. Vegetable Fats and Oils. Reinhold Publishing Co., N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edleridge, Joan. 1975. “Bush Medicine in the Exumas and Long Island, Bahamas,” Economic Botany13: 281–318.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans, I. A. andJ. Mason. 1965. “Carcinogenic activity of Bracken.” Nature208: 913–915.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Everist, Selwyn. 1974. Poisonous Plants of Australia. Angus and Robertson, Sydney.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferguson, N. M. 1956. A Textbook of Pharcognosy. Macmillan Co., N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernald, Merritt Lyndon andAlfred Charles Kinsey. 1974. Edible Plants of Eastern North America. Harper and Row, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fielder, Mildred. 1975. Plant Medicine and Folklore. Winchester Press. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Folkard, Richard. 1884. Folklore of the Plant Kingdom. Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington.

  • Fosberg, F. R. 1942. “Uses of Hawaiian Ferns.” Amer. Fern J.32: 15–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friend, Hilderic Rev. 1886. Flowers and Flower Lore. Swan Sonnenschein and Co., London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frye, Theodore C. 1934. Ferns of the Northwest. Metropolitan Press, Portland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gildemeister, E. andFr. Hoffmann. 1900. The Volatile Oils. Pharmaceutical Review Publishing Co., Milwaukee.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giovanni, Dr. 1971. Fenaroli’s Handbook of Flavor Ingredients. Chemical Rubber.

  • Good, Ronald. 1933. Plants and Human Economics. Cambridge U. Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grieve, M. Mrs. 1971. A Modern Herbal. Dover Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hare, Hobart Armory, Charles Caspari andHenry Rusby. 1916. The National Standard Dispensatory. Lea and Febiger, Philadelphia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrington, H. D. 1967. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press. Albuquerque.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, Ben Charles. 1968. Eat the Weeds. Barre Publishers, Barre, Mass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartley, Winifred T. 1962. Handbook of Liberian Ferns. Ganta Mission. Kew Bulletin 16, number 12.

  • Hirono, I. C. Shibuya, M. Shimizu andK. Fushimi. 1972. “Carcinogenic activity of processed bracken used as a human food.” J. Nat. Cancer Inst.43: 1245–1250.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hodge, W. H. 1973. Fern Foods of Japan and the Problem of Toxicity. Am. Fern Journal63: 77–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Irving, F. R. 1952. “Supplementary and Emergency food plants of West Africa.” Economic Botany6: 23–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, Betty P. andDerek W. Snoeden. 1968. Powdered Vegetable Drugs. American Elsevier Publishing Co., N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, Marion Lee. 1958. Index of plants of North Carolina with reputed medicinal uses. Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knap, Alyson Hart. 1975. Wild Harvest—An Outdoorsman’s Guide to Edible Wild Plants in North America. Arco, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knobloch, Irving W. andD. S. Correll. 1962. Ferns and Fern Allies of Chihuahua. Texas Research Foundation Contrib. 3. Renner, Texas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramer, Jack. 1972. Natural Dyes, Plants and Processes. Charles Scribner & Sons, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krochman, Arnold and Connie. 1973. Medicinal Plants of U.S. Quadrangle.

  • Krutch, Joseph. 1976. Herbal. Balance Book Company, Boston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, Walter andMemory Lewis. 1977. Medical Botany. John Wiley and Sons, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leyel, C. F. Mrs. 1952. Green Medicine. Faber and Faber, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindley, John. 1838. Flora Medica. A Botanical account of all the most important plants used in medicine in different pts. of the world. London.

  • Lloyd, Robert M. 1964. “Ethnobotanical Uses of California Pteridophytes by Western Indians.” Am. Fern J.54: 76–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, Richard. 1966. Nature’s Medicine. Packer Pub. Co., Nyack.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mairet, Ethel. 1939. British Dye Plants. Chemical Publishing Co. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Medina, Julio. 1959. Plantas fibrosas da Flora Mundial. Instituto Agromonomico. Campinas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merrill, Ruth E. 1923. Plants used in Basketry by the Calif. Indians. U. of Calif. Pub. in Am. Archeology and Ethnology, Vol. 20.

  • Mitchell, Lillian. 1964. Recipes from Eire. In Dye Plants and Dyeing Brooklyn Botanical Garden Handbook 20. New York.

  • Mitsuhashi, Hiroshi. 1976. Medicinal plants of the Ainu of Hokkaido. Economic Botany30: 209–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morton, C. 1966. “The Use of Climbing Fern, Lygodium in Weaving.” Am Fern J.56: 79–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morton, Julia. 1963. Principal Wild Food Plants of the U.S. Eco. Bot.17: 319–326.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muller, Theodore. 1913. Industrial Fiber Plants of the Philippines. Manila Bureau of Printing: 49.

  • Oslo, Arthur andGeorge Farrar. 1955. U.S. Dispensatory. 25th Edition Hepner Press, Philadelphia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pamuckcu, A. M. andJ. M. Price. 1969. The induction of intestinal and bladder cancer in rats by feeding bracken fern. J. Nat. Cancer Inst.43: 275–281.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pratt, Robertson andH. Youngken. 1951. Pharmacognosy. Lippincott, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quisumbing, Eduardo. 1951. Medicinal Plants of the Philippines. Manila Dept. of Agr. and Nat. Resources Bulletin 16. Manila Bureau of Printing.

  • Read, B. E., ed. 1946. Plants Listed in the Chui Huang pen t’sao. Henry Lester Institute of Medicine. Shanghai.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ripperton, J. C. 1924. “The Hawaiian Tree Fern as a Commercial Source of Starch.” Hawaii Agr. Exper. Station, Honolulu: 53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, Leonard. 1973. Dyes from Plants. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roi, Jacque. 1955. Traites des plantes medicinales Chinoises. Encyclop. Biologique XLVII, Paris.

  • Romero, John Bruno. 1954. The Botanical Lore of the California Indians. Vantage Press, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schauenberg, Paul. Guides des Plantes Medicinales. Delachaux et Nestles-Neuchâtel.

  • Scully, Virginia. 1970. A Treasury of American Indian Herbs. Crown, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, Frederick Porter. 1871. Contributions towards the Materia Medica and Natural History of China. American Presbyterian Mission Press, Shanghai.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, Huron H. 1924. Ethnobotany of Menomini Indians. Bulletin of Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee4: 1–174. Greenwood Press, Westport.

    Google Scholar 

  • Step, Edward. 1908. Wayside and Woodside Ferns: A Pocket Guide to the British Ferns. Frederick Ware and Co., N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Takatori, Jisuke. 1966–1970. Medicinal Plants of Japan.

  • Tamaka, Yoshio. 1895. Useful Plants of Japan. Agricultural Society of Japan, Tokyo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thurstan, Violetta. 1970. The Uses of Vegetable Dyes. Dryad Press. Lewins Mead, Bristol.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trease, George Edward andWm. Charles Evans. 1972. Pharmacognosy. Wmst Wilkins, Baltimore.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, Nancy, andMarcus A. M. Bell. 1971. “The Ethnobotany of the Coast Salish Indians of Vancouver Islands.” Economic Botany25: 63–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • ——. 1973. “Ethnobotany of the Southern Kwakiuth Indians.” Economic Botany27: 257–310.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uhe, George. 1974. “Medicinal Plants of Samoa.” Economic Botany28: 1–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Underbill, Ruth. 1945. Indians of Pacific Northwest. U.S. Dept. of Indian Affairs. Washington.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uphof, J. C. Rh. 1968. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Stechert Hafner, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Usher, George. 1971. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Hafner Press, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watt, John Mitchell and Maria Gerdina Breyer-Brandwijk. The Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of South and Eastern Africa. 2nd ed. Edinburgh, E. & S. Livingstone.

  • Witham, Helen. 1972. Ferns of San Diego County. John Peter Dexter Memorial Publications, San Diego Society of Natural History, San Diego.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodville, William. 1832. Medical Botany: Containing systematic and general discriptions of all the medicinal plants … 3rd ed. J. Bohn, London.

  • Youngkin, Heber W. 1948. Textbook of Pharmacognosy, 6th ed. Blakiston, Philadelphia.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The New York Botanical Garden, 10458, Bronx, New York

    Lenore Wile May

Authors
  1. Lenore Wile May
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

May, L.W. The economic uses and associated folklore of ferns and fern allies. Bot. Rev 44, 491–528 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02860848

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02860848

Keywords

Search

Navigation