| Aspidium | |
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| Aspidium filix-mas | |
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| Genus: | Aspidium Sw. 1801
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Aspidium Sw. is a fern genus in the Dryopteridaceae (wood fern) family. Although the genus name itself it is now generally considered to be obsolete and a synonym for Tectaria Cav. (in the Tectariaceae family),[1] Aspidium's former species have been placed in several other families and genera.
The name aspidium is also used in referring to a medicine, usually in the form of an oleoresin extract, containing filicin, made from the rhizomes and stipes of certain former Aspidium species such as Dryopteris filix-mas (male fern), and Dryopteris marginalis (marginal fern). These medicines have been used in the treatment of tapeworm infection, but their use is limited to otherwise-untreatable cases due to the toxicity of the medication. Safer drugs such as dichlorophen, niclosamide, and quinacrine are preferred.
- ^ Aspidium Sw. Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 25 Jan 2012