Rusty Back Fern

Asplenium ceterach 
[ass-PLEE-nee-um   KET-er-ak]
(syn Ceterach officinarum)

  

Family: Aspleniaceae 

Names: Ceterach, Doradille (French); Schriftfarn (German); scale fern, Arabian Ceterach; Common Spleenwort , Doradilla, Finger Fern, Miltwaste, Scaly Fern, Spleenwort 

Description:   A small perennial fern, forming small tufts, native to Europe and western Asia.  It likes growing in narrow cracks in old walls and on ruins.  The fronds are narrow, lobed, 2-6 inches long; dark green in color, undersurface covered with a felt of pale brown scales. It is hardy to zone 8. The seeds ripen from April to October.  

Cultivation: A calcicole plant, it requires a freely draining but moist alkaline soil. It tolerates full sun but prefers a position with at least part-day shade and also grows in deep shade. Plants can be grown in old brick walls. Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer.  Propagate by spores best sown as soon as they are ripe on the surface of a humus-rich sterilized soil. Keep the compost moist, preferably by putting a plastic bag over the pot. Germinates in spring. Spring sown spores germinate in 1 - 3 months at 59°F. Pot on small clumps of plantlets as soon as they are large enough to handle and grow them on in light shade in a cold frame or greenhouse. Keep them humid until they are well established. When they are at least 15cm tall, plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer.  The plant is harvested from late spring to summer and can be dried for later use.  

Constituents: The leaves or fronds contain tannin, mucilage and a bitter substance which imparts a vile taste to the drug; it can however be disguised with flavorings such as peppermint or aniseed.

Properties: diuretic, bechic, expectorant, astringent, sedative, pectoral, diaphoretic. 

Medicinal Uses: In the eighteenth century the leaves were official in some pharmacopoeias, as its botanical name indicates. Infusions from the fern are particularly helpful to sufferers from dysuria (difficulty in passing urine) when oxalic acid is present, and to prevent colic caused by kidney stones.  A syrup made from the fern is sometimes used to treat lung infections, but it is less effective than maidenhair.  The whole plant is widely used in the Mediterranean to treat gravel in the urine and is also used with other mucilaginous plants to treat bronchial complaints. 

References:
Guide to Medicinal Plants, Paul Schauenberg, Ferdinand Paris, Keats Publishing, 1977; ISBN: 0-87983-161-8
Plants for a Future Database