634 CLXIV. FILICES. OsMUNDA. 
united; fertile fronds bipinnate, with recurved and globular contracted seg- 
ments.—Common in low grounds. Fronds about a foot high, the barren ones 
broad and somewhat triangular in outline, composed of broad, oblong, sinuate 
divisions, the upper ones smaller, nearly entire, becoming united at base. The 
fertile frond is very dissimilar in its form to the others, resembling a compound 
spike, enclosing the fruit in the globular segments of its short divisions. Colo 
dark brown. July. 
8. obtusilobata. Torr. (O. obtusilobata. Schk.) Lfls. opposite; segm. rounded. 
12 STRUTHIOPTERIS. Willd. 
Gr. orpovSos, the ostrich, trepov, wing, or plume; from the resemblance. 
Thecz densely covering the back of the frond; indusia scaly, 
marginal, opening internally. 
S. Germanica. Willd. (S. Pennsylvanica. Willd.) Ostrich Fern. 
Sterile fronds pinnate; leaflets pinnatifid, sessile; segments entire, rather 
acute, the lower ones somewhat elongated.—A fern of noble size and appear- 
ance, growing in low woods and swamps. The sterile fronds are often 5 or 6f 
high, commonly about 3, numerous, in circular clumps. Stipes smooth, chan- 
neled; leaflets pinnatifid, with numerous segments, the lower of which are the 
more narrow and acute, all more or less connected at base. Fertile fronds few, 
in the midst of the sterile, much smaller, the leaflets with numerous, brown- 
ish, contracted segments, densely covered by the fruit beneath. Aug. 
Trize 2. OSMUNDIACEX.—Thece destitute of a ring, reticulated, stri- 
ated with rays at the apex, opening lengthwise and usually externally. 
. 13. OSMUNDA. 
Thecz subglobose, pedicellate, radiate-striate, half-2-valved, collect- 
ed on the lower surface of the frond or a portion of it, which is more 
or less contracted into the form of a panicle. 
* Fertile fronds distinct from the sterile. 
1. O. CinnaMoMEs. Cinnamon-colored Fern. 
Sterile frond pinnate, leaflets elongated, pinnatifid, segments ovate-oblong, 
obtuse, very entire; fertile frond bipinnate, leaflets contracted, paniculate, sub- 
opposite, lanuginous; stipe lanuginous.—This is among the largest of our 
ferns, growing in swamps and Iow grounds. Fronds numerous, growing in 
clumps, 3—5f high, most of them barren, the stipe and rachis invested with a 
loose, cinnamon-colored wool. The fertile fronds resemble spikes, 1—2f long, 
an inch wide. Leaflets all fertile, erect, with the segments covered with fruit 
in the form of small, roundish capsules, appearing, under a microscope, half- 
2-cleft. June. 
* * Portions of each frond fertile. 
2. O. REGALIs. Michx. (O. spectabilis. Willd.) Royal Flowering-Fern. 
Fronds bipinnate, fructiferous at the summit; segments of the leaflets lance- 
oblong, distinct, serrulate, subsessile ; raceme large, terminal, decompound.—A 
large and beautiful fern, in swamps and meadows. The fronds are 3—4f high, 
smooth in all their parts. Leaflets or pinne opposite, remote, each with 6—9 
pairs of leaves with an odd one. These are an inch or more long, } as wide, 
obtuse, the petioles 0—%/’ long. Above, the frond is crowned with an ample 
bipinnate raceme of a deep fulvous hue, with innumerable, small, globular, 
2-valved thece entirely covering the segments. June. 
3. O. CLAYTONIANA. 
Frond pinnate ; leaflets or pinne pinnatifid, the upper ones contracted and 
fertile—Smaller than either of the foregoing, found in swamps, Cambridge, 
N. Y., Dr. Beck, W., to Wisc., Dr. Lapham! Fronds 1—2f high. Pinnz ob-. 
long, obtuse, 2—-4’ long, tomentose in the axils. Segments entire. Each frond 
bears a terminal, bipinnate, rust-colored, erect panicle, covered with fruit. May. 
4. O. INTERRUPTA. Michx. 
Frond pinnate, smooth; leaflets nearly opposite, pinnatifid; segments ob- 
a il 
