A poisonous chemical compound derived from the male fern plant, historically used as a powerful anthelmintic (parasite killer).
From 'aspidium' (male fern genus) + '-ol' (chemistry suffix for alcohols), named for the plant source from which it was originally extracted.
Medieval healers didn't understand chemistry, but they discovered that male fern could expel tapeworms—centuries later, scientists isolated aspidinol as the active compound!
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