Common Name: Stag-Horn Moss

General Information

Lycopodiella cernua is an evergreen, perennial plant that is related to the ferns. It has a creeping main stem of indefinite length, rooting at long intervals[]. Erect shoots, somewhat resembling little pine trees, grow up to 100 cm tall[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for a range of traditional medicinal uses. It is also used locally as a stuffing material and insect repellent[]. It is sometimes sold in local markets[]. The plant is widely grown as an ornamental, both indoors and outdoors. It is also used in floral decoration, for making wreaths and baskets[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Found throughout the Tropics and Subtropics, extending into warm temperate areas.

Habitat

Forest fringes, in young secondary forest, often in swamp margins, in grassland (including wet grassland), along roadsides and railways, on moist cliff-faces, hillsides and mountain slopes, up to elevations of 2,400 metres[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Perennial
Height	1.00 m
Cultivation Status	Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

In suitable climates the plant can continue growing and producing spores all year round. It can also become dormant, surviving adverse conditions as buried stem tips[].

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

With its wide range of distribution, the plant has acquired many different applications in traditional medicinal. Modern research has shown the presence of alkaloids, such as cernuine and lycocernuine, the flavonoids apigenin and apigenin-7-glucoside, the triterpene serratenediol and, as in many other Lycopodiaceae, a high concentration of aluminium (up to 12.5% of ash)[].
Tests have shown that injection with a traditional Chinese medicine prepared from Lycopodiella cernua is effective against experimental silicosis, not only as a prophylactic but also to treat the disease[].

The whole plant is generally employed, usually in the form of a decoction when taken internally. It is said to be diuretic and tonic[]. It is used in the treatment of stomach ulcers, rheumatism, hepatitis and dysentery[]. Combined with Tristemma mauritianum, it is used to treat neuralgia and hypertension[].
Applied externally, the whole plant is crushed and applied as a dressing to wounds[]. A decoction is used as a lotion to treat beriberi, coughs and asthma, and in embrocations to treat skin eruptions, abscesses, bruises, burns and scalds[, ]. An embrocation of the ashes in vinegar is recommended for skin eruptions [].

Other Uses

The plant is used as a repellent against fleas and cockroaches[].

The dried plant is used to stuff cushions as a kapok substitute[, ].

The leaves are used to filter palm wine[].

Propagation

Spores.
Layering of growing tips[].

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