Native American Medicine: used internally (infusion) and externally in decoction as antirheumatic. Roots used in conjunction with other herbs as an emetic. Cold infusion of root for stomachache. Root poultice used to control convulsions. It was applied to back of head. Leaf decoction to reduce fevers, typically, in children.
Members of this genus have rhizomes that have been used to kill worms (P. filix-mas).
Food: A few ethnobotanists report that Cherokee may have eaten the fiddleheads.
The rhizome of P. munitum a Western relative of P. acrostichoides was roasted and eaten.
Before eating these plants discover a Native American who has already done so. Sound flippant but there are Native American restaurants in places like Cuernavaca, Mexico, Vancouver, WA and elsewhere. There are many Native American Cultural Centers such as Bittersweet Cultural Center in Rochester, IN.
