Name – मयूराह्वशिखा
Botanical name – Adiantum caudatus
Description – Leafy fern, stipes dark chestnut-brown, wiry, tufted, spreading, 5-10 cm long; fronds elongated, rooting at the apex, pinnate, pinnae 1.5-2.0 cm long, lobed; sori borne on edges of lobes
Chemical Constituents- Plant : adiantone, isoadiantone, beta-sitosterol, fernene, hentriacontane, 16-hentriacontanone
Use – Plant: in cough, diabetes; (ii) Leaf: in skin diseases; RURAL FOLK OF KASHMIR: Whole plant : asthma, bronchitis, burning sensation inside body; TRIBES OF NORTH-EAST INDIA : Leaf: in fever ana skin diseases. BHAVAPRAKASHA : sweet, helps digestion, reduces obesity, pacifies wind and phlegm, beneficial in diarrhoea, urinary troubles and in child diseases. Modern use : Fern : antibiotic; EtOH (50%) extract of plant: hypoglycemic and spasmogenic.