Botany
Pakpak-lawin na babae is an epiphytic, lithophytic or terrestrial fern. Rootstock is short and covered with linear-lanceolate, acuminate scales. Stipes are tufted, rigid, erect, brown, glabrous or nearly so, 3 to 30 centimeters long. Fronds are simply pinnate, oblong in outline, 7 to 40 centimeters long; pinnate opposite or alternate, 2 to 12 centimeters on each side, 2 to 15 centimeters long, 1 to 3 centimeters wide, lanceolate. Sori are in close, long, parallel, oblique lines reaching from the midrib nearly to the margin.

Distribution
- Widely distributed in dry thickets in the Philippines, from northern Luzon to Mindanao.
- Also in tropical Asia to Polynesia.

Properties
Diuretic.

Parts utilized
Leaves.

Uses
Folkloric
• Decoction of the fronds is a diuretic. Also used for the treatment of dysuria and bladder complaints associated with beri-beri.
• In India, fronds used as diuretic for conditions with defective urination.
• In India, leaf decoction used as laxative, emetic, diuretic, anthelmintic, and for treatment of ophthalmia, jaundice, and splenic diseases. (4)

Studies
• No studies found.

Availability
- Wild-crafted.

OTHER IMAGE SOURCE: Vintage monochrome botanical print showing Asplenium Macrophyllum Swartz. / Printed in Tokyo, Japan, 1936 / Etsy

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Maternity and medicinal plants in Vanuatu II. Pharmacological screening of five selected species / G. Bourdya, C. Françoisb, C. Andaryc and M. Boucard / Journal of Ethnopharmacology • Volume 52, Issue 3, 5 July 1996, Pages 139-143.
(2)
A Review on the Potential Uses of Ferns / M Mannar Mannan, M Maridass and B Victor / Ethnobotanical Leaflets 12: 281-285. 2008.
(3)
A. macrophyllum / Ed. by William H Brown / Minor Products of Philippine Forests, Vol 1, No 3 / United States and Its Territories 1870-
(4)
Vascular Epiphytic Medicinal Plants as Sources of Therapeutic Agents: Their Ethnopharmacological Uses, Chemical Composition, and Biological Activities / Ari Satia Nugraha, Bawon Triatmoko, Phurpa Wangchuk, and Paul A Keller / Biomolecles, 2020 Feb; 10(2) / doi: 10.3390/biom10020181. 

                                                                          DOI
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