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Ferns are rightly considered the oldest representatives of the plant world on the planet. Today, these plants are not so often found in nature, so all kinds of genuine interest to gardeners and lovers of indoor cultures.
Adiantums, uniting about 200 species, are one of the few ferns that grow easily not only in gardens, but also at home, relatively easily tolerating content in a limited pot, dryness of the atmosphere and constant air temperature.
In nature, adiantum plants prefer to settle on the shores of water bodies, where they take root in small clusters of humus, which is huddled between stones. In such conditions, the plants do not have a lack of nutrition and moisture, the air is always humid and cool.
When this drops of moisture easily roll off the smooth surface of the frond, and the leaves of the plant always remain dry. This property of the adiantum and determined the name of the genus, literally translated as "not getting wet."
Where is Adiantum's birthplace?
In order for the adiantum plants to feel comfortable at home, it is important to create an atmosphere for them that is close to the one that surrounded the ferns in their natural habitats? Where is the birthplace of adiantum?
Today, botanists distinguish two natural ranges of this genus, which mainly capture the tropical and subtropical regions of both hemispheres. Independent species of adiantes are found in South America, where plants grow and multiply on the rocky outcrops in the Andes.
The second area of distribution of the genus is in the east of the Asian region. Only in China and nearby countries almost four dozen species have been identified, but this does not mean that in other places one cannot meet a fern of this genus.
One of the most common and favorite adiant flower growers is Adiantum capillus veneris, or Venerin Vol, which also inhabits the territory of our country. Here adiantum plants can be found traveling in the Caucasus and Crimea. Along with another fern, a stopoid adiantum, the Venusian hair easily adapted to the conditions of the local foothills, enduring quite cold tropical winters.
On the territory of Europe, wild adiantums exist in the Mediterranean, individual plant populations have inhabited the northern regions of the African continent, areas in the South Caucasus and in the mountainous regions of Central Asia.
There are adiantums in Australia, and the northernmost members of the genus live on the sea coasts of Britain, where humid air and rock shelters help to survive the winter.
Adiantum: characteristic and description of the plant
Despite the diversity of species, united under the common name "adiantum", the plants also have a mass of common features and properties.
Vayi or fern leaves in most adiant species, dissected or pinnate, sometimes asymmetrical. At the same time, the foliage can be of different sizes and colors, the structure of the smallest leaves and the degree of branching differ. In this case, the spore ripening zones of all ferns are located on the back side of the frond, and the stem of the leaves is very thin, but strong.
All perennial adiantum herbaceous plants in height do not exceed half a meter, large leaves have a drooping appearance and form a beautiful open canopy. Multiple rhizoids extending from the main powerful rhizomes help the adiantum plants to live on the rocky slopes. They easily penetrate between individual stones and use any means to keep them on the surface and receive nourishment.
Energy Plants Adiantum
At first glance at the adiantum it may seem that the plant is extremely delicate and fragile. But with long-term cultivation, it turns out that this spectacular fern not only has a mighty vitality, but also carries a bright positive energy.
Adiantum plants are carried to the houses where they grow, the atmosphere of love and mutual understanding, especially the flower favors women. Fragile, thin, like the hair of a young girl, the stem of leaves successfully resists all the vicissitudes, and gives the same stability to its owners. It is worth noting that the adiantum is not poisonous, and therefore it will find a place in any of the rooms, be it a living room, an office or a nursery.
And in regions with a milder climate, where winter temperatures allow the fern to survive this time, the culture is actively grown in gardens. It is the plant's adaptability to the most diverse habitat conditions that is the most important characteristic of the adiantum, which valued growers from all over the world. But the beneficial properties of adiantum are not limited to this.
How is an adiant useful?
The useful properties of the adiantum were studied and described by the scientists of antiquity. Pliny the Elder, committed to the theory and treatment of such like, wrote about the benefits of fern grass to strengthen the hair. And in some areas of Transcaucasia adiantum is still used in herbal gatherings to activate hair growth.
Medicinal infusions and tea with fern are also known from ancient times. But how useful is the adiantum today, when scientists can find out the composition and properties of plant materials to the smallest details?
In the pharmacopoeia of European states, the adiant plant was included on the basis of confirmation of its usefulness:
- in inflammatory diseases of the respiratory organs;
- for parasitic invasions;
- with heat;
- if you need to take soft sedatives.
Greens and rhizomes of ferns have the ability to relieve the symptoms of alcohol and chemical poisoning.
In Southeast Asia, as well as in Europe and South America, adiant grass has long since been used as a drug for fever. Crushed to a state of homogeneous mass, the leaves were used as an ointment for tumors, a decoction facilitated gastric and intestinal pain. Today, most of the methods of using the plant are fully or partially approved by official medicine.
The extract obtained from the Adiantum plant Venerin hair exhibits antimicrobial activity, and the drug is able to cope with such formidable microorganisms as Candida, E. coli and Proteus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. Due to the presence of a specific essential oil adiantum is useful in the fight against aspergillus of different varieties and streptococci.
In addition, active flavonoids and glucosides, kaempferol and quercetin sulfates, lipids, steroids and other compounds that have a beneficial therapeutic effect on the body have been found in the plants' fights.
