THE ROYAL FERN
Under the name of the Flowering Fern it is probable that most people are
familiar with the subject we are now about to consider. The title has
without a doubt arisen from the fact that the species bears its sori in
masses at the termination of the fronds, quite apart from the leafy
portion. The Royal Fern is the sole British representative of the family
Osmundaceæ.
_Osmunda regalis._ There is great diversity of opinion upon the
derivation of the name Osmunda. The name is thought to be of Saxon
origin, and possibly was given to the Fern in honour of a personage who
bore the name of Osmund. Osmunda was one of the titles of the great god
Thor. In other quarters the name is said to be compounded of the two
words os, “a house,” and _mund_, “peace.” Finally, a pretty story
associates the name Osmunda with a certain Osmund, a ferryman, who, to
hide his daughter from marauding Danes, placed her amongst the great
clumps of the Royal Fern which grew so plentifully by the riverside. The
specific name _regalis_ is simply Latin for “royal,” and is an apt
reference to the noble proportions of this Fern.
[Illustration: Osmunda regalis. The Royal Fern.]
The Royal Fern has a sturdy tufted root-stock which in an old example may
well be one or two feet in height. From the crown of the root-stock arise
the fronds, which are of a yellow-green colour when they are young. The
stipes is about the same length as the leafy portion, and the fronds
themselves often rise to a great height. Cases are on record where, the
plant being in a very damp situation, the fronds have been as much as
twelve feet in height. Average specimens would range from three to six
feet. The fronds are twice pinnate, the pinnules being oblong with uncut
edges. Some of the fronds are barren and never bear any sori.
In the case of the fertile fronds only the upper portion produces the
clusters of spore cases. Here the leafy portion of the pinnules is very
much contracted, so that little or no green is visible. The sori are
quite naked, no indusia being present at any time. A notable feature of
the sporangia is that they split up into two valves when about to burst,
and are not provided with the elastic ring (_annulus_) which assists in
the rupture of the capsules in the case of most ferns. That the pinnules
which bear the sori are exactly comparable to the leafy portion is often
very plain. Here and there on a plant it is possible to find fertile
examples which have developed partly in a barren, and partly in a fertile
manner.
The Royal Fern is essentially a plant of the marshland. It never grows
happily in dry or elevated situations. It is perhaps to be found at its
best growing by the side of some river or stream. The Royal Fern has been
found in many parts of the United Kingdom, though the plant suffers much
from the depredations of trippers. Most fern-lovers know of places where
this handsome species grows in abundance, but they wisely keep such
knowledge to themselves. In the garden the Royal Fern grows well, but it
must not suffer from lack of water, or it will prove but a poor subject.
The fronds of the Royal Fern die down at the coming of the frost, and the
young growth does not put in an appearance until the late spring.