THE FLOWERING FERN. 



THE FLOWERING FERN {Osmunda n;^^//^^).— Reverie. 



This is the finest of our native Ferns. It is sometimes 

 called the royal Fern. Its generic name, Osmunda, is 

 supposed to be that of a goddess, queen of Thor, a Celtic 

 di\'init}', and was applied to this plant for its alleged virtue in 

 medicine. One of its fancied properties is to inspire those 

 under its influence with dreams of great prophetic force, 

 whence it is made the emblem of Reverie. This Fern grows 

 in the most retired spots, in the midst of deep forests, as in 

 the royal forest of Delamere, Cheshire ; and on vast bleak 

 moors, as at Hind Head, a few miles from Godalming, 

 Surrey. Wordsworth speaks of its retiring propensities — 



" Fair Ferns and flowers, and chiefly that tall Fern 

 So stately, of the Queen Osmunda named, 

 Plant lovelier in its own retired abode 

 On Grasmere's beach, than Naiad by the side 

 Of Grecian brook, or lady of the mere, 

 Sole sitting by the shores of old romance ; " 



so that its habitat, wherever that may be, is exactly suited to 

 quiet musing, and those fits of abstraction which we are 

 accustomed to speak of simply as a Reverie. 



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