Medicinal Monday... Healing Properties of the Rattlesnake Fern

The Rattlesnake fern has an ominous name. It is actually an attractive plant that grows in moist forests. Native Americans found many uses for this fern that is the most widespread member of the genus Botrychium in North America. It is also the most common species found in New England. Ferns in general had many practical as well as medicinal uses in traditional Native American life. Ferns were eaten as greens, boiled into herbal teas, and were used to make mats.

About the Rattlesnake Fern

This species of fern is slow-growing and very difficult to cultivate. Rattlesnake fern is part of the Botrychium family. It got its name because the tip of this fern reminded people of the tail of a rattlesnake and because it grows where rattlesnakes were thought to be found. At maturity, it can reach a height of three feet. The fertile portion of the plant is the main stem that is bicolored, being pinkish at the base and green near the leaves. The bright green fronds appear in the spring and are soft to the touch. This fern has two types of leaves, sterile and fertile, both have a prominent midvein and are deeply lobed. The sterile arises halfway up the stalk and the fertile part of the plant exists at the tip. Spores are released between September and November when the leaves turn from green to yellow to brown. Rattlesnake ferns prefer partial sun to light shade and fertile loamy soil with an abundance of decaying organic matter upon which their survival depends.

Medicinal Uses

Native Americans found the fronds of this fern were helpful in relieving pain from open sores. Some Native American communities pulped the plant and applied the poultice to snakebites. The Algonquian and Abnaki use it to relieve irritation and as a children's medicine. The Cherokee use a root decoction as emetic and as a concentrated syrup for snake bites. They also use the juice from the fronds to treat insect bites. The Chippewa used a poultice of fresh root for snakebite and as a repellant. The Chicksaw make tea from the fern and drink it as an expectorant. The Ojibwa use it for lung trouble and made a poultice of the roots to treat cuts.

Did You Know

Rattlesnake fern is also found in Australia, some parts of Asia including India, Norway, Finland, and Russia.

In India, rattlesnake fern has been used for centuries to treat dysentery. 

The Rattlesnake fern is also called the grape fern because the spores on its tip also look like small grapes.

Unlike other grape ferns, the rattlesnake fern is not an evergreen.