Lycopodium CUT PLANT 100G IPHYM Herbalism Lyc L.
Latin name: Lyc L.
Family: huperziaceae
Common names: Lycopodium, Sulfur Plant Grass with clubs, Wolf Paw
Parts used: aerial part
Origin: Europe
Lycopodium has diuretic properties, purgative and emetic. The spore of club moss, once used as absorbent powder into pills, has high toxicity (irritation of mucous membranes). Alkaloids (mainly huperzine A) could be used in the treatment of myasthenia gravis and certain memory disorders (Alzheimer's). Huperzine A is a cholinesterase inhibitor more potent than prostigmine.
Huperzine A seems more effective than donepezil and rivastigmine, with a longer duration of action.
lycopodium is used in the following cases:
- Memory Disorders and Alzheimer's Disease (huperzine A is precursor of donepezil (Aricept), specific and reversible inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase, the predominant cholinesterase in the brain)
- Locally intertrigo
- Kidney and bladder pain
- Myasthenia
- Renal and hepatic toxicity its alkaloids
Infusion; Pour 1 teaspoon per cup of boiling water. Let steep for 2 minutes, then strain. Only take one cup per day
The club moss is a perennial herb fern flowerless, to trailing stems up to 1 meter long and living in temperate or cold zones. It emits erect branches covered with small overlapping and linear leaves. The fertile branches are yellowish sporangifères ears club-shaped. Lemery reports that the largest consumption of Lycopodium was done on large theaters to mimic fire (rapid ignition), hence the common name of "vegetable sulfur"
Active ingredients: alkaloids, flavonoids, caffeic acid, triterpenes