Asplenium ruta-muraria
| Asplenium ruta-muraria | |
| Light: |  |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 6 |
| Soil pH: | 7.4-8.4 |
| Evergreen | |
| Height: | 0.3' |
| Width: | 0.5' |
| Speed: | Slow |
| Native to: | |
| Medicinal Rating: | |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Asplenium ruta-muraria (common name: wall rue)
Propagation: Spores - best sown as soon as they are ripe on the surface of a humus-rich sterilized soil. Keep the compost moist, preferably by putting a plastic bag over the pot. Germinates in spring[1]. Spring sown spores germinate in 1 - 3 months at 15°c[2]. Pot on small clumps of plantlets into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle and grow them on in light shade in a cold frame or greenhouse. Keep the plants humid until they are well established. Once the plants are 15cm or more tall, plant them out into their permanent positions in the spring.
Division in spring.
Cultivation: Requires a well-drained position and lots of old mortar rubble in the soil[1]. Requires a humid atmosphere and some shade[3][4]. A good plant for growing on a shady part of an old dry-stone or brick wall[K], also succeeding in full sun[5].
A very ornamental fern[1], it is very tough but slow to establish[5].
Members of this genus are rarely if ever troubled by browsing deer[6].
Range: Most of Europe, including Britain, Mediterranean, N. and S. Asia to the Himalayas, E. North America.
Habitat: Old walls and basic rocks in hilly areas[7][8].
Medicinal: The fronds are astringent, deobstruent, emmenagogue, expectorant and ophthalmic[9][7][10]. A distilled water made from the fronds has proved of benefit in the treatment of many eye complaints[7]. The plant is also considered to be useful in the treatment of coughs and ruptures in children[9]. It was at one time used as a herbal remedy for rickets[5] and its tannin content renders it suitable for stopping bleeding from small wounds[7]. The fronds are harvested in late spring and dried for later use[7].
Soil: Can grow in light and medium soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
In Leaf: Evergreen
Seed Ripens: Mid Summer-Mid Fall
Known Hazards: Although we have found no reports of toxicity for this species, a number of ferns contain carcinogens so some caution is advisable[11].
Many ferns also contain thiaminase, an enzyme that robs the body of its vitamin B complex. In small quantities this e
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References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ Rice, Graham. Growing from Seed Volume 2. Thompson and Morgan, 1988.
- ↑ Knight, F. P.. Plants for Shade. Royal Horticultural Society, 1980.
- ↑ Brown, George. Shade Plants for Garden and Woodland.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Grey-Wilson, Christopher and Victoria Matthews. Gardening on Walls. Collins, 1983.
- ↑ Thomas, Graham. Perennial Garden Plants. J. M. Dent & Sons, 1990.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Chiej, Roberto. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald, 1984.
- ↑ Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Grieve, Margaret. A Modern Herbal. Penguin, 1984.
- ↑ Chopra, R. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, 1986.
- ↑ Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.