The _osmundas_ are tall swamp ferns growing in large crowns from strong,
thickened rootstocks; the fruiting portion of the fertile frond much
contracted and quite unlike the sterile. Sporangia large, globular,
short-stalked, borne on the margin of the divisions and opening into two
valves by a longitudinal slit. Ring obscure. (From Osmunder, a name of the
god Thor.)
(1) FLOWERING FERN, ROYAL FERN
_Osmúnda regàlis. Osmunda regàlis_, var. SPECTÁBILIS
Fronds pale green, one to six feet high; sterile part bipinnate, each pinna
having numerous pairs of lance-oblong, serrulate pinnules alternate along
the midrib. Fruiting panicle of the frond six to twelve inches long, brown
when mature and sometimes leafy.
A magnificent fern, universally admired. Well named by the great
Linnæus, _regalis_, royal, indeed, in its type of queenly beauty. The
wine-colored stipes of the uncoiling fronds shooting up in early spring,
lifting gracefully their pink pinnæ and pretty panicles of bright green
spore cases, throw an indescribable charm over the meadows and clothe even
the wet, stagnant swamps with beauty nor is the attraction less when the
showy fronds expand in summer and the green sporangia are turned to brown.
The stout rootstocks are often erect, rising several inches to a foot
above the ground, as if in imitation of a tree fern. The poet Wordworth
hints at somewhat different origin of the name from that given here.
"Fair ferns and flowers and chiefly that tall fern
So stately of the Queen Osmanda named."
[Illustration: Royal or Flowering Fern _Osmunda regalis_]
The royal fern may be transplanted with success if given good soil,
sufficient shade and plenty of water. Common in swamps and damp places.
Newfoundland to Virginia and northwestward.
[Illustration: Sori of _Osmunda regalis_ (From Waters's "Ferns," Henry Holt
& Co.)]
(2) INTERRUPTED FERN. CLAYTON'S FERN