Witnessed by: Unani
Common polypody (Polypodium vulgare), of the Polypodiaceae family. Small evergreen fern creeping by a scaly rhizome over rock, wall and tree-bark, the fronds deeply pinnate with round golden sori beneath; native range: Europe, North Africa and temperate Asia, creeping over shaded rocks, old walls and the mossy limbs of oaks. Globally recognized as bisfayej (بسفايج) in Arabic, basfayij in Persian, bisfayej in Urdu, and common polypody, wall fern, oak fern in English. The part used is rhizome. A brown, scaly, jointed rhizome, green within, sweetish at first and then unpleasantly bitter and slightly nauseous.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
COMMON POLYPODY
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- common polypody
- Scientific name
- Polypodium vulgare L.
- Family
- Polypodiaceae
Form
- Part used
- rhizome
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Unani
- sweet · bitter (sweetish at first, then a lingering bitterness)
Temperature
- Unani
- hot & dry (2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Unani
- liver · spleen · intestines · brain
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Unani
- mushil-e-sauda (purges black bile), mulaiyin (mild laxative), mufatteh-e-sudad (deobstruent of liver and spleen), munzij (concoctive) and mudirr-e-baul (diuretic)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- a weak, irritable stomach — the rhizome nauseates; not for use in pregnancy for its purgative reach
- Toxicity
- low in dose; larger doses nauseate and gripe
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