Polypodium vulgare is a cosmopolitan fern found in North America, central and northern Europe, and eastern Asia. The plant is quite hardy in sub-zero temperatures. It prefers acidic, well-drained and sandy soils and should do well in a Cape Cod woodland garden.
The fern is edible and is used as a spice in cooking. You can also eat the stem as licorice (the plant is also called licorice fern).
Common polypody has been used in herbalism for a long time, and in this day and age it is an ingredient of some bodybuilding supplements. The fern contains ecdysteroids which are chemically similar to a molting hormone isolated from insects. Ew, you say – but hang on, there is more: Those same ecdysteroids are found to stimulate protein synthesis by increasing the activity of the cellular compartments where actual protein synthesis takes place. Additional research (with mice, to be fair) shows that ecdysteroids have androgen-like and anabolic action.
I have no plans to chew the stems, nor do I feel the need to pump it up – I did, however, plant a fair amount of these ferns because of their nice foliage. As ferns go, they don’t grow very high and can function as groundcover.
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