OSM 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



OSM 



217 



2. Osmites Camphorina. Leaves lanceolate, subserrate, 

 cothed at the base; stems quite simple, with one peduncled 



flower; ray of the corolla white ; disk yellow; seeds small, 

 ovate, attenuated each way to an obsolete edge, convex on 

 one side, and grooved or striated flat on the other, pale. It 

 has a very strong smell of camphor, and from that peculiarity 

 derives both its names. Native of the Cape. 



3. Osmites Asteriseoides. Leaves lanceolate, dotted; 

 stems leafy, thick, warted; flowers terminating, sessile. 

 Gartner is of opinion that this species differs so much from 

 the preceding, that it might form a distinct genus. Native 

 of the Cape. 



4. Osmites Calycina. Leaves lanceolate, naked ; calices 

 scariose; stem erect, proliferous, not thickened; branches 

 a little pubescent ; flowers terminating, solitary, sessile ; 

 corolla yellow. Native of the Cape. 



Osmuntiu ; a genus of the class Cryptogamia, order Filices. 

 GF.SF.UIC CiiAK.u-TER. Capsules : distinct, dispersed in 

 a raceme in such a manner as to lo<ik the same way, or else 

 heaped on the back of the pinna or division of the frond, 

 sessile, subglobular, opening transversely, without any ring. 

 Seeds : very many, extremely minute. Observe. The species 

 with capsules surrounded by an elastic ring, ought to be 

 removed from this genus. The Osmund Royal, and other 

 European sorts, Moonwort exempted, will grow in a moist 

 shady situation in gardens, but will not thrive well without 

 bog earth. The species are, 



1. Osmunda Zeylanica. Scape cauline, solitary; fronds 

 verticillate, lanceolate, undivided, plant a foot high, with a 

 naked stem, terminated commonly by seven petioled, undi- 

 vided, lanceolate leaves, placed in a ring, and erect ; among 

 them rises a cylindrical peduncled spike. Native of Ceylon. 



2. Osmunda Lunaria ; Moonwort. Scape cauline, soli- 

 tary; frond pinnate, solitary. Root fibrous; plant three, 

 four, or five inches high, sometimes a little higher; the stem 

 divides in the -middle into two branches, one of which imme- 

 diately puts forth leaflets on each side, the other supports a 

 naked flowering raceme. The difficulty of meeting with this 

 plant, which is not common, and lies concealed among grass, 

 the singularity of its leaves, and its medical qualities, all 

 conspire to make it sought after. The leaves dried, and 

 given in powder, stop purgings and uterine hsemorrhages ; 

 and if they are bruised and applied to a cut, they will stop 

 the bleeding, and heal it in a day or two. A decoction of 

 the plant in red wine stops vomiting, tnward bleeding, the 

 whites, and most kinds of fluxes. It is also excellent for 

 bruises, sprains, and ruptures; but it is mostly esteemed 

 and made use of in liniments, oils, balsams, and salves, for 

 green wounds, &c. This plant will not grow in any but a 

 dry situation. It is a native of most parts of Europe, found 

 in dry pastures, flowering from May to July. In England 

 it may be obtained near Linton and Chippcuham in Cam- 

 bridgeshire ; Colchester in Essex; Bury in Suffolk; Stratton 

 heath in Norfolk; Shotover hill, and North Leigh heath, in 

 Oxfordshire; Scadbury park; Maidstone, Blackheath, and 

 Chesselhurst common, in Kent; on the north side of Bredon 

 hill; and near Stourbridge in Worcestershire; near Bath in 

 Somersetshire; in various parts of Nottinghamshire and Lan- 

 cashire ; near Settle and Ingleton in Yorkshire ; in the moun- 

 tainous pastures of Westmoreland: in Scotland, on Ardgath 

 hill to the north of Linlithgow; near Dundonald's, two miles 

 irom Little Loch Broom ; on the western coast of Ross-shire ; 

 in the Isle of Skye : in Ireland, on the rising ground of a 

 meadow 200 yards north of the second lock of Lagan canal. 

 There are several varieties of this curious little plant, with 

 several leaves and spikes, and .with several leaves cloven. 



3. Osmunda Virginica. Scape cauline, solitary ; frond 

 superdecompound. Native of North America. 



4. Osmunda Ternata- Scape cauline, solitary ; frond 

 three-parted, subdecompound ; root composed of numerous 

 filiform fibres in bundles, with few fibrils. It flowers in 

 October and November, and is a native of Japan. 



5. Osmunda Phyllitides. Scapes cauline, in pairs ; frond 

 pinnate ; stem even. Native of South America. 



6. Osmunda Hirta. Scapes cauline, in pairs ; frond pin- 

 nate ; stem rough-haired ; root a bundle of small fibres. 

 Found in the island of Martinico. 



7. Osmunda Hirsuta. Scapes cauline, in pairs ; frond 

 pinnate, hirsute. Native of Jamaica. 



8. Osmunda Odianthi folia. Scapes cauline, in pairs ; frond 

 superdecompound. Native of Jamaica. 



9. Osmunda Verticillata. Scapes radicate ; racemes verti- 

 cillate ; frond superdecompound. Native of South America. 



1 0. Osmunda Cervina. Scape radicate ; frond pinnate J 

 pinnas quite entire. Native of South America. 



11. Osmunda Bipinnata. Scape radicate ; frond pinnate ; 

 pinnas pinnatifid. Native of South America. 



12. Osmnnda Peltata. Shoot creeping; fructifications 

 pedate, distinct, roundish-halved, entire , fronds dichoto- 

 mous, with linear segments. Native of Jamaica. 



13. Osmunda Aurita. Scapes radicate ; fronds bipinnate 

 at bottom, pinnate at top ; pinnas at the base, eared upwards, 

 serrate, convex, shining. Native of Jamaica. 



14. Osmunda Filiculifolia. Scape radicate, panicled ; 

 frond superdecompound. Found in South America. 



15. Osmunda Regalis ; Osmund Royal, or Flowering 

 Fern. Fronds bipinnate, racemiferous at the top; root 

 thick, externally fibrous, and covered with thin brown scales ; 

 plant from two to four feet high, of a pleasant and transpa- 

 rent green. A strong decoction of the rotots is said to increase 

 the urinary discharge, and is good in most obstructions of 

 the viscera. It is not much regarded at present, but 

 instances are not wanting in which it has cured the jaundice 

 when taken at the beginning of the complaint. It is the 

 largest and handsomest of our British Ferns; and is found 

 near Yarmouth and St. Kitt's, and in Newton bogs, near 

 Norwich ; in the New Forest ; in Cornwall ; in the isle oi 

 Anglesea; in several parts of Scotland; and in Kirkistown 

 bog in Ireland, where it is called Bog Onion. 



16. Osmunda Clay toniana ; Virginian Osmunda. Fronds 

 pinnate; pinnas pinnatifid, closely fructifying at top. It 

 flowers in August, and is a native of North America. 



17. Osmunda Capensis. Fronds pinnate; pinnas cordate- 

 lanceolate, crenulate; scape formed of the fructifying frond. 

 Native of the Cape. 



18. Osmunda Cinnamomea; Woolly Osmunda. Fronds 

 pinnate; pinnas pinnatifid; scapes hirsute; racemes oppo- 

 site, compound. It flowers in June- Native of North 

 America. 



19. Osmunda Struthiopteris; Bird's-nest or Russian Os- 

 mvnda. Fronds pinnate; pinnas pinnatifid, fructifying; 

 scape distich. The fronds grow in a ring forming a hollow 

 disk, affording an asylum for some of the amphibia, and the 

 nests of birds, whence its name. Native of the north of 

 Europe. 



20. Osmunda Lineata. Fronds pinnate, lanceolate, ob- 

 liquely cordate at the base, entire at the edge ; the fructify- 

 ing pinnas crenulate, scaly in the middle. Native of Jamaica. 



21. Osmunda Polypodioides. Fronds lanceolate, pinna- 

 tifid; segments confluent, entire, ascending, with raised dots 

 on the edge ; scape lanceolate ; pinnas remote. Native of 

 Jamaica. 



