OSMUNDACEAE 



1. OSMUNDA L. 



Leaves in large crowns, erect, from a thickened root- 

 stock: blades once-pinnate or twice-pinnate, some wholly 

 or some partly spore- 

 bearing,! the spore-bearing 

 blades or leaflets very 

 much contracted and de- 

 void of ehlorophyl. Spo- 

 r a n g i a short-stalked, 

 thin, reticulate, opening 

 in halves, a few parallel 

 thickened cells near the 

 apex representing the 

 rudimentary transverse 

 ring. Spores copious, 

 greenish. Besides the 

 following, two other spe- 

 cies grow in Florida and 

 four or five additional 

 ones in other parts of 

 the world. 



1. O. regalis L. Leaves 

 clustered, 6-20 dm. tall: 

 blades 2-pinnate; leaflets 

 1.5-5 cm. long, the blades 

 elliptic-ovate, or lanceolate-elliptic, serrulate and some- 

 times crenately lobed near the base, sessile or slightly 

 stalked. Spore-bearing portion of the leaf terminal, 

 panicle-like, the segments linear-cylindric, greenish be- 

 fore maturity, red-brown or dark-brown and withering 

 with age. (EOYAL-PERN. FLOWERIXG-FERX.) Wet and 

 moist grounds, in and about low hammocks. Figure 2, 

 reduced. 



