192 



SUB-ORDER III. OSMUNDACE^E 



Capsule two- valved, opening across the apex 

 with a short horizontal ring ; vernation 

 circinate. 



GENUS XLVIIL OSMUNDA L. 



(Deriv. Osfaunder, one of the names of Thor, 

 a Celtic divinity.) 



Fertile frond wholly on the upper or middle 

 portion contracted, forming simple or com- 

 pound panicles bearing sporangia ; veins forked 

 free ; fronds pinnate or bipinnate, articulated 

 with the rachis. 



Qsmunda regalis L. 



Caudex stout, erect. Stipes tufted, 12-18 

 inches long. Fronds 2-4 feet long, I foot 

 or more broad, bipinnate to tripinnate ; barren 

 and fertile fronds separate or only the upper 

 part of the frond fertile ; sterile pinnules 

 oblong, blunt, with the margins finely serrate or 

 crenate, base unequal ; ultimate fertile pin- 

 nules cylindrical and covered with capsules ; 

 occasionally only a portion of the pinnule 

 fertile and contracted, the other portion remain- 

 ing sterile. Veins forked free. This is known 

 as the ' Royal Fern '. [Plate XIV.] 



