Ophioglossum pendulum
[Ophioderma pendulum subsp. falcatum]
Puapua moa or Adder's tongue
Ophioglossaceae
Indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands (all main islands)
Oʻahu (Cultivated)
Hawaiian name: Puapua "tail feathers" and moa, "chicken," lit. "chicken tail feathers."
Early Hawaiians prepared a cough remedy from this fern. Its spores were given to infants after birth to purge them of meconium.
Closeup
www.flickr.com/photos/dweickhoff/13853636073/in/photolist...
Etymology
The generic name Ophioglossum is from the Greek ophis, snake, and glossa, tongue, in reference to the fertile spike resembling a snake's tongue.
The Latin specific epithet pendulum, hanging, in reference to this species' drooping blade.
Ophioglossum pendulum
[Ophioderma pendulum subsp. falcatum]
Puapua moa or Adder's tongue
Ophioglossaceae
Indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands (all main islands)
Oʻahu (Cultivated)
Hawaiian name: Puapua "tail feathers" and moa, "chicken," lit. "chicken tail feathers."
Early Hawaiians prepared a cough remedy from this fern. Its spores were given to infants after birth to purge them of meconium.
Closeup
www.flickr.com/photos/dweickhoff/13853636073/in/photolist...
Etymology
The generic name Ophioglossum is from the Greek ophis, snake, and glossa, tongue, in reference to the fertile spike resembling a snake's tongue.
The Latin specific epithet pendulum, hanging, in reference to this species' drooping blade.