''Ophioglossum vulgatum'', commonly known as adder's-tongue, southern adders-tongue or adders-tongue fern, is a species of fern in the family ''

Ophioglossaceae Ophioglossaceae, the adder's-tongue family, is a small family of ferns. In the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016 (PPG I), it is the only family in the order Ophioglossales, which together with the Psilotales is placed in the sub ...

''. The adder’s tongue fern is generally believed to have the largest number of chromosomes wit
1262
compared to the human’s 46.

Distribution

It is native to many regions with a wide scattered distribution: throughout temperate through tropical Africa and throughout the temperate

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

in Europe, northeastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, temperate Asia, and Eurasia. This small, hard-to-spot plant can occur singly in unimproved pastures, rock crevices and grassy path-sides, but also can occur in colonies of hundreds of plants in sand dunes. Ophioglossum in sand-dunes

Description

''Ophioglossum vulgatum'' grows from a rhizome base to 10–20 cm tall (rarely to 30 cm). It consists of a two-part frond, separated into a rounded diamond-shaped sheath and narrow spore-bearing spike. The spike has around 10-40 segments on each side. It reproduces by means of spores.

Rarity

This species is rare in most European countries. In Ukraine, there were recorded 280 loci: 152 before 1980, after 1980 – 120, as before and after 1980 – 8 locations.

Uses

Traditional European folk use of leaves and rhizomes as a poultice for wounds. This remedy was sometimes called the "Green Oil of Charity". A tea made from the leaves was used as a traditional European folk remedy for internal bleeding and vomiting.

Taxonomy

Carl Linnaeus, Linnaeus species description, described adder's-tongue with the binomial nomenclature, binomial ''Ophioglossum vulgatum'' in his ''Species Plantarum'' of 1753.

References

6
West Highland Flora (U.K.): ''Ophioglossum vulgatum''

External links

USDA Plants Profile for ''Ophioglossum vulgatum''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q847497 Ophioglossum, vulgatum Ferns of the Americas Ferns of Africa Ferns of Asia Ferns of Europe Medicinal plants Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus