Because St. Patric put a curse on ferns they have no flowers, says an old Irish legend; yet ferns were also an emblem of fertility in Ireland. Not only in Christian lore but since time immemorial ferns seem to have been subject to a taboo and closely associated with serpents. Snakes eat and control many plant pests and have had a symbolic place in medicine since ancient times. They were sacred to Asclepius, the Greco-Roman god of medicine, whose rod, or caduces, with a snake coiled round it, remains to this day the symbol of medicine. Old-time folk healers believed any plant that was a "snake plant" was powerful. In England, in Cornwal, they say that biteing off the first fern seen in spring will prevent toothache all the rest of the year.

Hart's-tounge fern's use was chiefly medicinal rather than magicasl. In 17th-century England it was taken for a variety of ailments from obstructions of the liver to passions of the heart. Today different preperations of the plant are also used for a range of disorders, from respiratory ailments to constipation.

Uses:
Modern herbalists recomend hart's-tounge fern mainly as a diuretic, as an expectorant (to help bring up phlegm), and as a treatment for obstruction of the liver and spleen.
Validity:
There have been no scientific studies to confirm or deny these effects or claims.