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sporangiferous, represented by tbe eastern 0. jamnica, and the
western 0. Claytoniana; and § Osmundastrum, having the fertile and
sterile fronds distinot, represented hy the North American 0.
cinnamomea.
There are many versions of the derivation of the name, aU of
which seem to be speculative. It has been said to come from the
Saxon osnmnd, domestic peace: from os house and mund peace.
Others have derived it from osmundare to wash tho mouth, but the
application is not obvious. According to others again, it is commemorative
of Osmund a waterman of Loch Tyne, who if the legend
may bo depended on, hid his wife and fair-haired daughter on an
island of the lake, covered with these plants, during an incursion of
the Danes.
BRITISH SPECIES AND VARIETY.
0. regalis r a ta ll growing bipinnate aquatic perennial w itli terminal inflorescence«
like fructification.
var. cristata : fronds pinnæ and pinnules multifid-crisped a t th e apex.
THE ROYAL, or FLOWERING FERN.
OSMUNDA REGALIS.
O. fronds bipinnate (rarely tripinnate) ; pinnules oblong, nearly
entire, dilated and more or less auricled at the base ; spore-cases
clustered in twice-branched panicles at the apex of the fronds.
[Plate OX.]
O sm u n d a e e s a l i s , Linnæus, Sp. P lant. 1521. Bolton, Fil. Brit. 6, t. 5 . Smith,
Eng. Bot. iii. t. 209 ; Id ., Eng. Fl. 2 ed. iv. 314. Hooker A Amott, B n t.
F l 7 ed. 693. Hooker, Fl. Lond. v. t. 150 (veins en-oneous) ; Id ., Gen.
Fil. t. 46 A. Mackay, F l Hib. 845. Gray, Nat. A r r . BrU. P I ii. 3.
BaUngton, Man. Brit. Bot. 4 ed. 429. Newman, Hist. B r i l Ferns, 8 ed.
307 Moore, Handb. B r i l Ferns, 3 ed, 268 ; Id ., Ferns o f G l B r i l Nature
Printed, t. 60. DeaUn, Fh rig r. Brit. iv. 36, fig. 1578. Sowerby, Ferns of
Gt Brit. 78, t. 44. Bentham, Handb. Brit. Fl. 625. Schkuhr, Krypt. Qevi.
147, t. 145. Smartz, Syn. F i l 160. Willdenow, Sp. Plant, v. 97. Sprengel,
Syst Veg. iv. 24. Presl, Supp. TeiU. Pterid. 62. Nyma n , Syllog. Fl.
Eulop. 434. F l Banica, t, 217. Svensk Bot. t. 366. Ledebour, F l Boss.
iv. 606. Frws, Sum. Veg. 83, Koch, Syn. 2 ed. 973. Gray, B o l North
United Slates, 2 ed. 600. Sturm, P I (Farm.) t. 7. Lowe, N a t H is t Ferns,
viii. t. 3.
A p h y l l o c a l p a REGALIS, CavaiiilUs, A n n . Cienc. Nat. v . 1 6 4 ; Id ., ProeUct.
(1802), 556.
S t k u t h i o p t e e i s E EQALIS, Bernhardi, Schrad. J o um . Bot. 1800, u. 126.
Var. cristata ; fronds pinnæ and pinnules multifid-crisped at the
apex. [Plate CXI.]
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Caudex stout, firm, growing in tufts, dark-coloured, erect, often
becoming trunk-like, and attaining an elevation of two feet or more.
Fibres numerous, stout, branched.
Vernation circinate.
Stifles nearly or quite as long as the leafy portion of the frond,
and as well as the rachis succulent tinged with red and clothed with
loose deciduous pale-brown cobwebby wool while young, firm smooth
and pale green when mature, terete, somewhat flattened m front,
dilated at the base and having a membranaceous margin there;
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