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Sword Fern is known in a number of Vancouver Island and Puget Sound languages as 'pala-pala plant', because it was used in a traditional game known as you guessed it, pala-pala. This game, played by children, involved seeing who could pull the most leaflets off a leaf in a single breath while saying "pala"with each one. On a more useful note they were used to cure diarrhea!