OSMUNDA REGALIS. OSMUND ROYAL, OR
FLOWERING FERN.
OSMUNDA regalis; frondibus bipinnatis, pinnulis oblongis subfalcatis obtusis, basi inferiore sub-
auriculatis, inferiojibus appositis, panicula bipinnata fructificante in apice frondis.
OSMUNDA regalis. Linn. Sp. PL p. 1521. Huds. Angl. p. 449- Light/. Scot. p. 653. With.
Bot. A rr. ed. 4. vol. 3. p. 746 . (Ed. Fl. Dan. t. 217. Bolt. Fil. p. 6. t. 5. Hoffm.
Germ. ed. 2. vol. 2. p. 15. Willd. Sp. PL vol. 5. p. 97. Szoartz Syn. Fil. p. 160.
Smith FL B r it.p . 1108. Engl. Bot. t. 209. Decand. FL Fr. ed. 3. vol. 2. p. 569-
Fl. Gall. Syn. p. 115. Schlcuhr Fil. t. 145. A it on Hort. Kew. ed. 2. vol. 5. p. 499.
Hook. FL Scot. P . II. p. 158.
1TLIX ramosa non dentata florida. Water-Fern, or Flowering Fern, or Osmund Royal. Raii Syn.
p . 125.
• Dan. Engelbregne. Dut. Koninglyk trosvaren. Fr. La Faugere aquatique. Germ. Die Kö nigliche
Osmunde. It. Osmunda aquatica. Port. Feto real on florido. Span. Osmunda real.
Sued. Saffabuslce. Welsh. Lloer-redynen cyfrdwy.
Class a n d Ou d e r . CRYPTOGAMIA FILICES.
' [N a tu r a l O r d e r . FILICES, Juss., Br., Decand., Hook. Div. I I I . OSMUNDACEÆ, 2?r.]
G e n . Ci ia r . • Capsula pedicellatæ, subglobosæ, a basi ad gibberein dorsalem striatum déhiscentes, primas
mutato-contractas undique operientes (v. in fronde immutata dorsales, Todea Willd.) Involucrum nullum. B r .
G e n . G u a r . Capsules pedicellate, subglobose, opening from the base to a striated dorsal gibbosity, and entirely
covering the altered and contracted pinnæ (or dorsal upon the unaltered frond, as in Todea Willd.) Involucre
none. Br.
R a d ix crassa, fibrosa, perennis.
F rondes pluritm ex eademx&dice, erccti, bi-tripedales
e t ultra, simplices, ovato-lanceolati, inferne nudi,
superne bipinnatim divisi, omnino glabri.
St ip e s luteo-viridis, glaber, semiteres, facie anteriore
canaliculatus, basi dilatatus, margine mernbra-
naceus, laceratus. v
P in næ lanceolatæ, subacuminatoe, suboppositæ, rem© tæ,
erecto-patentes. '
PiNNULÆ approximates, alternas vel suboppositæ, ses-
qui-vel bi-unciales, elliptico-lanceolatas, paululum
falcatas, obtusæ, luteo-virides, costa centrali ve-
ni'sque lateralibus furcatis numerosis notatæ,
margine obsolete serratæ, basi truncatæ, hinc
latere inferiore plerumque auriculatæ.
Frondium fertilium p in næ superiores in racemos
decompositos mutantur.
Capsulæ densissime conglomerates, primum flavo-vi-
rides, demum rufo-fuscæ, sphoericæ, reticulatæ,
hinc a basi ad gibberem dorsalem striatum déhiscentes.
Sem in a numerosa, sphoerica.
Root thick, fibrous, perennial.
Fro n d s 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 w.here glabrous.
St ip e s yellow-green, glabrous, semiterete, grooved on
the upper surface, dilated a t the base, where the
margin is-membranaceous and lorn.
PiNN/E lanceolate, subacuminate, nearly opposite, distant,
erecto-patent.
Pin n u l e s 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 a t the base.
T h e superior p in n je o f the fertile fronds are changed
into decompound racemes.
Ca psules 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.
Se ed s numerous, spherical.
Fig. 1 Cluster of capsules. Figs. 2 and 3. Front and back view of single capsules. Fig. 4. Front view of an
open capsule. Fig. 5. Back view of the same. Fig. 6. Seeds.—all magnified.
No one can form an adequate idea of the beauty of this Fern, or understand how justly has the term regalis
been applied to it, but those who have seen it growing in the wet swampy grounds of the southern parts of E n g -"
la n d ; where, sheltered by Alders, and springing from’ little hillocks formed by the decayed stalks of its preceding
year’s growth, it rises to the height of three, four, and even five feet, bearing at the extremity a mass of fructification
so conspicuous as to have obtained for the plant the vulgar name of the flowering Fern. The Osmunda
regalis appears to be widely diffused throughout Great Britain, extending as far as the western isles of Scotland,
and chiefly growing in wet, springy and boggy places. I t is also common on the continent of Europe, but is
not met with so far north either as Lapland or Iceland.
This is the only individual of the genus which our island possesses. In Japan and North America there are
others, and in the latter country one species especially (O. spectabilis Willd.), so much resembling the present
plant, that Michaux and many other authors have supposed them to be the same. In several specimens,
however, both wild and cultivated, of the O. spectabilis, which I have examined, there is the same habit and appearance
which distinguish it from our plant, all the parts being far more slender and delicate, the pinnules
much narrower, more lanceolate and acuminated, with their edges more regularly and minutely serrated. The
panicle of fructification in O. spectabilis is also vastly more slender and delicate, ihe' pinnules set at a greater distance,
and longer.
Withering tells us that impressions of the leaves of this plant are frequent in nodules of iron-stone found in
Colebrook Dale iron-works, and that it is the only instance in which he has seen an indigenous vegetable in a
fossil state. All the impressions of Filices he stales to be those of natives of America. Why may'not that of
the Osmunda be the American species ?
The virtues of this plant, though entirely neglected in modern practice, are highly extolled by the ancient
writers. “ Osmonde,” says the translator of Dodonteus, “ is hoate in the first degree, and drie in the seconde.
The harte of the roote of Osmonde is good against squattes and bruises, heavie and greevous falles, and whatever
hurte or dislocation soever it be.” Ray says that it is an excellent remedy for the rickets. The properties,
real or imaginary, which have been attributed to this plant by old authors, will however assist us in discovering
the derivation of its generic name, Osmunda, of which Aland is said to be the root, a word of Anglo-Saxon origin,
signifying strength, and indicating the healing and invigorating virtues of this vegetable. “ Osmund,” says Du
Theis, “ is one of the appellations of the Celtic deity Thor, and implies the force or strength of which he is the
emblem.” This appears to me a more natural derivation than the one given by Smith in Rees’s Cyclopedia, where
he mentions that Osmund, a Saxon proper name for a man, is expressive of domestic peace. He continues to say
that “ the application of the name to this plant originated in England. The elegant Filix florida or Flowering
Fern, which first received it, and which is an aquatic plant, should seem, by Gefrard’s Herball, a type or memorial
of some “ Osmund, a waterman,” whose history had not come down even to that old writer; but whose heart,
he says, was commemorated in the core of the root.