कीटमाता – Adiantum lunulatum

 

Name – हंसपादी

Botanical name – Adiantum lunulatum

Description – Leafy fern; stipes dark chestnut-brown, wiry, 6-15 cm long, glabrous, shining, tufted; fronds often elongated, rooting at apex, pinnate, pinnae subdimidate; sori borne in a continuous line along the edge.

Chemical Constituents- Plant: higher carotenoids and chlorophyll-degradation products.

Use – Traditional use : TRIBES OF RAJASTHAN : (i) Plant: in asthma, cough, fever; (ii) Leaf: balding, erysipelas, leprosy; BHIL : Plant: pimples; SIKKIMESE : Leaf: bronchitis; KHASIA and GARO : (i) Plant: bone fracture, (ii) Leaf: sprain; SANTAL: (i) Plant: in atrophy, cachexy, emaciation, watery diarrhoea, (ii) Root: in muscular pain, rabies, bite of a rabid jackal or dog. AYURVEDA : Plant: antidysenteric, febrifugal, subdues burning sensation of body, useful as soothing agent (as lotion) in erysipelas and along with Asparagus racemosus in gonorrhoea; Root: in fever. Modern use : Used in blood diseases and epileptic fits; Rhizome : prescribed for strangury and fever due to elephantiasis.