Gen info
• Aspleniaceae (spleenworts) are a family of ferns, included in the order Polypodiales. The family has been subjected to considerable changes.
• Taxonomy: The family Aspleniaceae was first described by Edward Newman in 1840. The narrow circumscription of the family adopted by the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG1) recognizes only two genera, Asplenium and Hymenasplenium. (7)
• Asplenium is a genus of about 700 species of ferns, often treated as the only genus in the family Aspleniaceae. The most common vernacular name is spleenworts.
• Etymology: The genus name Asplenium derives from Latin asplenon, adjusted by Linnaeus from Ancient Greek asplenon (spleenwort), from its use to cure anthrax in livestock. (7)
• Spleenwort snippet: Both scientific name and common name "spleenwort" are derived from the old belief, based on the doctrine of signatures, that the fern was useful for ailments of the spleen, due to the spleen-shaped sori on the backs of the fronds. "-wort", an ancient English term, simply means "plant". Vitruvius further adds to the plant narrative:. . . in certain pastures in Crete, cattle chewing on the herb were shown to have small spleen. Hence, the herb was used as cure of splenetic people. (7)

Botany
• Pakpak-lawin na babae is an epiphytic, lithophytic or terrestrial fern. Rootstock is short and covered with linear-lanceolate, acuminate scales. Stipes are tufted, rigid, erect, brown, glabrous or nearly so, 3 to 30 centimeters long. Fronds are simply pinnate, oblong in outline, 7 to 40 centimeters long; pinnate opposite or alternate, 2 to 12 centimeters on each side, 2 to 15 centimeters long, 1 to 3 centimeters wide, lanceolate. Sori are in close, long, parallel, oblique lines reaching from the midrib nearly to the margin.

• Epiphytic fern, 15-80 cm tall, with a short, creeping rhizome, bearing a tuft of fronds. The leaf stalks are rather slender and almost black when dry, up to about 20 cm long. Leaves are 20-50 cm long, 10-20 cm wide, and have one set of leaflets at the base. Veins are very obliquely slanted, once or twice-forked, and hardly visible on the upper surface. The sori (containing the spores) are long, often stretching almost from the base to the end of the veins. The spores themselves are dark. A highly variable species. (5)

Distribution
- Native to the Philippines. (6)
- Widely distributed in dry thickets in the Philippines, from northern Luzon to Mindanao.
- Also native to Borneo, Chagos Archipelago, Comoros, Lesser Sunda Is., Madagascar, Malaya, Maluku, Myanmar, Sulawesi, Thailand, Vietnam,   (6)

Properties
Diuretic.

Parts utilized
Fronds.

Uses
Folkloric
• Decoction of the fronds is a diuretic. Also used for the treatment of dysuria and bladder complaints associated with beri-beri.
• In India, fronds used as diuretic for conditions with defective urination.
• In India, leaf decoction used as laxative, emetic, diuretic, anthelmintic, and for treatment of ophthalmia, jaundice, and splenic diseases. (4)

Studies
• No studies found.

Availability
- Wild-crafted.

OTHER IMAGE SOURCE: Vintage monochrome botanical print showing Asplenium Macrophyllum Swartz. / Printed in Tokyo, Japan, 1936 / Etsy

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Maternity and medicinal plants in Vanuatu II. Pharmacological screening of five selected species / G. Bourdya, C. Françoisb, C. Andaryc and M. Boucard / Journal of Ethnopharmacology • Volume 52, Issue 3, 5 July 1996, Pages 139-143.
(2)
A Review on the Potential Uses of Ferns / M Mannar Mannan, M Maridass and B Victor / Ethnobotanical Leaflets 12: 281-285. 2008.
(3)
A. macrophyllum / Ed. by William H Brown / Minor Products of Philippine Forests, Vol 1, No 3 / United States and Its Territories 1870-
(4)
Vascular Epiphytic Medicinal Plants as Sources of Therapeutic Agents: Their Ethnopharmacological Uses, Chemical Composition, and Biological Activities / Ari Satia Nugraha, Bawon Triatmoko, Phurpa Wangchuk, and Paul A Keller / Biomolecles, 2020; 10(2): 181/ PMCID: PMC7072150  PMID: 31991657 /
DOI: 10.3390/biom10020181
(5)
Asplenium macrophyllum / Mangrove Guidebook for Southeast Asia
(6)
Asplenium macrophyllum / KEW: Plants of the World Online
(7)
Aspleniaceae / Wikipedia

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