Nitong-pula
Lygodium japonicum
Hai-chin-sha

Nito's varieties of common names is confusingly shared among four species of plants belonging to the Family Schizaeceae / Gemus Lugodium
1. Nito, Lygodium circinnatum, nitong puti, nitoan
2. Nitong puti, Lygodium flexuosum, nito nga purao
3. Nitong-pula, Lygodium japonicum, nito, nito-a-purao
4. Nito-nitoan, Lygodium scandens, nitong parang, nito (See below)

Common names 
Nitong-pula (Tag.) 
Nito-a-purao (Ig., Ilk.) 
Hai-chin-sha (Chin.)

Botany:
· A very slender, twining fern growing from 1 to 3 m in length. Somewhat pubescent or nearly glabrous. Fronds of 2 kinds (dimorphic); the sterile pinnae 8 to 15 cm long, rarely longer, 2 to 4 mm wide. Pinnules 2 to 5 cm on each side, the upper ones simple, sessile, often subconfluent (confluent , merging or blending together) to the adjacent pinnule, entire, the intermediate ones somewhat hastate and the lowest one stalked, pinnate or bipinnate (twice pinnate), all oblong to linear, 1.5 to 8 cm long, tripinnate, the segments relatively broader and shorter.
· Spikes (site of the fruiting bodies) 1 to 6 mm long; spores verruculose.

Distribution
Very common throughout the Philippines at low and medium altitudes.

Parts utilized::
· Entire plant.
· Collect material from May to October.
· Rinse, macerate. Dry under the sun.
· Active principles concentrated in the sporangia of the plant.

Properties
Sweet tasting, refrigerant; antifebrile, diuretic.
Aids lymphatic circulation.

Folkloric uses
· Decoction of 25 - 30 g of dried material for urinary tract infections, lithiasis, renal edema. cough-fever, reddish urine, enteritis-dysentery.

Availability
Wild-crafted. 

Nito-nitoan
Lygodium scandens Linn.

Nito's varieties of common names is confusingly shared among four species of plants belonging to the Family Schizaeceae / Gemus Lugodium
1. Nito, Lygodium circinnatum, nitong puti, nitoan
2. Nitong puti, Lygodium flexuosum, nito nga purao
3. Nitong-pula, Lygodium japonicum, nito, nito-a-purao
4. Nito-nitoan, Lygodium scandens, nitong parang, nito

Common names 
Agsam (Bik.)
Nito-nitoan (Tag.)
Nitong-parang (Tag.)
Nito (Ibn., Tag.) 

Botany:
Primary petioles are very short, the secondary ones 1 to 2 cm long. Sterile pinnae are 7 to 20 cm long, with a terminal and simple bifid pinnule and 4 to 6 lateral ones on each side. Pinnules are alternate and stalked, 2 to 3 cm long, oblong or subtriangular, simple, entire or sometimes slightly lobed, with a variable rounded base. Spikes are 2.5 to 7.5 mm long in close rows.

Distribution
Limited in distribution in the Philippines, seen in the Batanes Islands and some parts of Luzon.

Parts utilized::
Entire plant.

Properties
Astringent.

Folkloric uses
Decoction of the plant, especially of stems and fronds, used for dysentery and hemoptysis.
Leaves also used for skin ailments.
Poultices and lotions used for skin ailments, measles, and swelling.
Lotions also used to cool in fevers.

Availability
Wild-crafted.