This section of the book is from "The Complete Herbalist" by Dr. O. Phelps Brown. Also available from Amazon: The Complete Herbalist: The People Their Own Physicians By The Use Of Nature's Remedies.
ROYAL FLOWERING FERN. Osmunda Regalis.
COMMON NAME. Buckhorn Brake.
MEDICINAL PART. The root.
Description. -- This Fern has a hard, scaly,
tuberous root, quite fibrous, and a whitish core in the centre. The
fronds are three or four feet high, bright green, and doubly pinnate.
The numerous leaflets are sessile and oblong, some of the upper ones cut.
History. -- This beautiful Fern is found
in meadows, and low, moist grounds, throughout the United States, blossoming
in June. The main root or caudex is the officinal part; it is about
two inches long, and has the shape of a buck's horn. It contains
an abundance of mucilage, which is extracted by boiling water. The
roots should be collected in August, or about the latter part of May, and
dried with great care, as they are apt to become mouldy.
The Osmunda Cinnamomea, or cinnamon-colored Fern,
is inferior to the preceding, but is frequently used for the same medical
purposes.
Properties and Uses. -- Mucilaginous, tonic,
and styptic. Used in coughs, diarrhoea, and dysentery; also used
as a tonic during convalescence from exhausting diseases. One root,
infused in a pint of hot water for half an hour, will convert the whole
into a thick jelly, very valuable in leucorrhoea and other female weaknesses.
The mucilage mixed with brandy is a popular remedy as an external application
for subluxations and debility of the muscles of the back. For internal
use the roots may be infused in hot water, sweetened, and ginger, cinnamon,
brandy, etc., added, if not contra-indicated.
 
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