L & m M w / a /
OSMUNDA REGALIS. OSMUND ROYAL,
FLOWERING FERN.
OR
OSMUNDA tegahs; frondibus bipinnatis, pmnulis oblongis subfalcatis obtusis, bad inferiore sub-
OSMUNDA jB B B i.lnferS nb“ “PPos,Us- P“ lc“la bipinnata fructificante in apice frondis.
OSMUNDA regal,s. L i n Sp, PI. p . 1031. Hude. Angl. p . 449. Lightf. Scot. p. 653. With
S o t. An-, cd. 4. ml. 3. p. 746. (Ed. FI. Dan. t. 317. Salt. Fit. p. 6 t 5 Hoffm
Gcnn e i 3. ml. 3. p. 15 JV,lld. Sp. PI. ml. 5. p. 97. Swartz Son M l p f e d
H I i H ■ M m Sot. t. 309. Decani. Fl. Fr. e d .3 m l 3 I 560
Hook. Fi. f c o i / p l l ' p . l 5 0 Uhr RL *■ I45' A “m Hort' K m ' A ä' V - m .
PU-DCramosa nondentataflorida. Water-Fern, or Flowering Fern, or Osmund Royal. RaiiSyn.
Dan. Engelbregne.
nigliche Osmunde.
Swed. Saffabuske.
Dut. Koninglyk trosvaren. Fr. La Fauve?
It. Osmunda aquatica. Port. Feto real ou
Welsh. Lloer-redynen eyfrdwy.
>'e aquatique. Germ. Die Kô-
florido. Span. Osmunda real.
[Natural Order. FILICES, J uss., Br., Decand., Hook. D iv . III. OSMUNDACEÆ B r ]
GM. CllAll. Capsula; pedicellate, subglobosm, a basi ad gibberem dorsale™ striatum déhiscentes primas
mutato-contractas undiqne openentes (v. in fronde immutata dorsales, Todca Willd.) Imolucrum nullum! Br.
G“ . Guar. Capsules pedicellate, subglobose, opening from the base to a striated dorsal gibbosity, and entirely
ere none | | | B m a‘1C contracted P,nnoe C?r doi'sal upon the unaltered frond, as in Todea Willd.) InvolujRadix
crassa, fibrosa, perennis.
FuoNdes pluriini ex eadein radice, erecti, bi-tripedales
et ultra, siinplices, ovato-lanceolati, inferne nudi,
superne bipinnatim divisi, omnino glabri.
SriPES-luteo-viridis, glaber, semiteres, facie anteriore
canaliculatus, basi dilatatus, margine membra-
naceus, laceratus.
Pixn/e lançeolatæ, subacuminatæ, suboppositæ, remota?,
ereèfô-patentes.
PiNNULÆ approximatæ, alternæ vel suboppositæ, ses-
qui-yel bi-unciales, élliptico-lanceolatæ, paululum
falcatæ, obtusæ, luteo-vmdes, costa centrali ve-
nisque lateral!bus furcatis numerosis notatæ,
margine obsolete serratæ, basi truncatæ, hinc
latere inferiore plerumque auriculatæ.
Frondium fertilium PINN2E superiores in racemos
decomposites mutantur.
Capsul/e densissime conglomérat®, primum flavo-vi-
rides, demum rufo-fuscæ, sphæricæ, reticulatæ,
hinc a basi ad gibberem dorsalem striatum déhiscentes.
Semina numerosa, sphærica.
Fig. 1 C lu ste r of capsules. Figs. 2 and 3. Front and
open capsule. Fig. 5. Back view of tî:
Root thick, fibrous, perennial,
Fronds many from the same root, erect, two or three
feet or more in height, simple, ovato-lanceolate,
naked below, above divided in a bipinnated
manner, every where glabrous.
Stipes yellow-green, glabrous, semiterete, grooved on
the upper surface, dilated at the base, where the
margin is membranaceous and torn.
PiNN/E lanceolate, subacuminate, nearly opposite, distant,
erecto-patent.
Pinnules approximate, alternate or nearly opposite,
an inch and a half or two inches long, elliptico-
lanceolate, slightly falcate, obtuse, yellow-green
marked with a central rib and numerous lateral
forked nerves, their margins obsoletely serrated
truncate at the base, generally auriculated on
one side at the base.
The superior pinn/e of the fertile fronds are changed
into decompound racemes.
Capsules thickly clustered, at first yellow-green, at
length reddish-brown, spherical, reticulated,
opening on one side from the base to a dorsal
striated gibbosity on the back.
Seeds numerous, spherical.
jack view of single capsules. Fig. 4. Front view of an
e same. Fig. 6. Seeds.— all magnified.
land • whpiv* 1 I Tu am ° , SC®n . §r° wlnS 1« the wet swampy grounds of the southern parts ofEng-
“ i l 4 § f sheltered by_ Alders, and springing from little hillocks formed by the decayed stalks of its preceding
H H H I nSeS 10 thc,be‘gllt 5hree. *>“ > »nd even five feet, bearing at the extremity a mass o f fructifica-
,f° Ronspicuoas as to have obtained for the plant the vulgar name of the fltmerin« Fern The Osmunda
- l e l ^ v t e v t e w t ‘y d-iff"Sed ? r Sh°Uf Great Britain, «tending as far fa the western isles o f S Z d ?
no! mof H ln " e ’- ? ,ingy places- It is also common on the continent of Europe, but is
"otmet with so far north either as Lapland or Iceland. . p ’ uc 1S
others’ H l‘ld« ‘dU'‘1 ■ 'h° 8enus.which °Rr‘slaml possesses. In Japan and North America there are
P i« t t a H H H J H SpeC;E* I B B ( ° - tpectaklU Willd.J, so much resembliug the present
Michaux and many other authors have supposed them to be the same. In several specimens
Wsranco' Wr r r ?”d of Ule ° \ tpectabilis, which I have examined, there is the same habit and ap-
■ ■ ■ 1 I B P'?"h a» the parts being far more slender and delicate, the pinnules
i j M g B O M lanceolate and acuminated, with their edges more regularly and minutely serrated. The
Sice, and longer*60" m ,I>K,“iUu ls als0 ’ nstly more slender and delicate, Ihe pinnules set at a greater dileaves
of this plant are frequent in nodules of iron-stone found in
fossil state All 'thTi0' a.nd tha' l b t h e “nly instance m which he has seen an indigenous vegetable in a
•he O W u t e 2 A Z c a a “ ^ c l f ‘° “ "“t,teS of Amarica' ™ y may not that o f
mite ™!“o J l l l'is» l,lant’„ th“,,gl1 ORtirely neglected in modern practice, are highly extolled by the ancient
The iln'rie S S the t"ai;slator of Dodonmns, “ is hoate in the first degree, and drie in the seconde.
ever hm-i. r i ° ° ^ ° f Gsmonde is good against squattes and bruises, henvie and greevous fades, and what-
realor^ l l d„ l ° “ r 'I T ' er be' , saJs lb? ' il, is «" a“ aHa°t remedy for the rickets. The properties,
die i l b f l S i S i . h * • b°'‘n attr,bu,ed( H I Plrint by old authors, will however assist us in discovering
»snifrinv S , gmenc name, Osmunda, of which Muni is said to be the root, a word of Anglo-Saxon origin!
i l W l l i r ,ond ttttltcatmg the healing and invigorating virtues of this vegetable. “ Osmund,” says Du
emblem DIB “,e aPPellatlons of tbe Celtic deity Thor, and implies the force or strength of which he is the
lie mention,\hl“ffiearS a more natural derivation than the one given by Smith in Rees's Cycioptedia, where
that« t],p .at Gsmund, a Saxon proper name ter a man, is expressive of domestic peace. He continues to say
Pent'w h lK . ■ ° l ,l.1,G " T e, !°, the Plant originated in England. The elegant FUix flortia or Flmverin»
»f som e" ,o™ !7 “ lv<!d,t' and.,"'b,,ch 13 “ aquatic plant, should seem, by Getrard's Herball, a type or memorial
lie saw a »aternian. whose history had not come down even to that old writer; but whose heart,
M dS commemorated in tbe core of the root.