| Botany
Vigorously creeping ground fern with
long stems and slender rhizomes, growing up to several meters long,
with very large fronds that repeatedly forks. Segments are linear. Leaves
branch equally or unequally into two forks. Sori are few and brown on
the underside.
Distribution
Widely distributed in the Philippines,
frequently formingf dense tangles in open places in mountains.
Parts utilized
Leaves
Properties and constituents
Antiasthmatic.
Study showed the leaves to be a good source of micronutrients.
Uses
Folkloric
Young leaves are used as poultice,
decoction or infusion for fever.
Antiasthmatic.
In Indo-China, used as
antihelmintic.
Roots of pulasan (Nephelim mutabile) are boiled with G linearis
and used for bathing feverish patients.(S)
Used for bloody diarrhea.
In east New Britain, bound externally to wounds, cuts and sores.
Studies
• Antioxidative / Antibacterial: In a study of leaf extracts of five medicinal ferns, G linearis showed to have antioxidative potential and antibacterial activity justifying its use in traditional medicine.
• Antinociceptive / Anti-Inflammatory / Antipyretic: Study of the chloroform extract of Dicranopteris linearis showed it to possess antinociceptive and antiinflammatory activity and justifies its traditional use by the Malays, especially for fever.
• Antibacterial: Petroleum, acetone, methanol and water extracts of Dicranopteris linearis exhibited antibacterial activity, maximum with the acetone extract.
Availability
Wildcrafted.
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