Family: Adiantaceae
Synonym:Adiantum fovearum Raddi
Bengali/Vernacular name:Biddapata.
Tribal name: Bandar tala (Chakma).
English name:Maiden hair fern.
Description of the plant:Rhizomatous herb, rhizome long-creeping, densely scaly all over, scales pale-brown, stipes black, about 25 cm long, lamina broadly ovate, about 22 cm long, bipinnate, primary pinnae alternate, distinctly stalked, pinnules up to 12 pairs per primary pinnae, alternate, shortly stalked or sessile, pinnae dark green, long, narrow, texture herbaceous, sori oblong or reniform, distributed all along the upper margin and unexcised part of the lower margin.
Plant parts used: Frond, rhizome.
Herbal uses:Decoction prepared from the leaves (fronds) of the plant (fern) is used as tea for the treatment of chest affliction, cold, cough, and snoring.
A paste made with the fronds of the fern is applied to the head and kept for one hour before washing to treat hair fall.
A decoction prepared from the rhizomes of the fern is taken thrice a day (100 ml amount each time) for 15 days to treat jaundice.
Decoction of rhizomes is used as tea for the treatment of respiratory problem, fever, and abdominal colic.
The fern extract is used to treat asthma, bronchitis, dysentery, epilepsy, leprosy, and ulcers.
Distribution: The fern occurs in Chittagong district.
Is this plant misidentified? If yes, please tell us….
