ROYAL FERN. 9 1 



by all who have raised ferns from spores that they are the first 

 and incomplete fronds that arise from the prothallus. Suc- 

 ceeding fronds are each larger and more divided than the last, 

 and more or less spore-bearing, until finally the tall, erect, and 

 much-divided fertile fronds appear, having much of the aspect 

 of a Spleenwort. The spores are ripe by April, and the sori 

 form slender lines, uncovered by any indusium, which lie 

 along the veins. The scattered spores begin to germinate 

 after the early autumn rains, so that before winter they have 

 formed prothalli, from which at the beginning of the new year 

 fronds an inch or so long will be springing. It is worthy of 

 note that the prothallus of this species at first produces an- 

 therids only, the archegones appearing later : an arrangement 

 that favours cross-fertilization. Full development will have 

 been attained by April or May, and by August it will be waste 

 of time to look for the Gymnogram, for it will have disappeared : 

 its short span of life has been reached. 



The Gymnogram must be sought on moist sunny banks in 

 the islands mentioned. Elsewhere, it is widely distributed in 

 all the warmer parts of the globe. 



As one would expect from its small size and impermanence, 

 and the fact that its position as a member of the Channel 

 Islands flora was only discovered in 1852, this species has no 

 folk-name. Its book-names are Annual Gymnogram, Slender 

 Gymnogram, and Annual Maidenhair. Its generic name 

 Gymnogramme is Greek and means " naked lines," in reference 

 to the fact that its straight rows of sori are not covered by an 

 indusium. The specific name leptophylla is also Greek and 

 signifies "slender leaf." 



Royal Fern (Osmunda regalis). 



Out of nearly a score of popular names applied to this fern 

 in different localities the most generally known is Flowering 



