140 HISTORY OF BRITISH FERNS. 



the regal honours, for it is the most majestic of our indi- 

 genous Perns. It is known by its large size, by having its 

 fronds entirely leafy in the lower part, and entirely fertile 

 at the top. In other words, the pinnae or branches at the 

 apex of the fronds are changed from the ordinary leafy form, 

 into dense masses of spore-cases, arranged in the aggregate 

 in the same way as the leafy pinnules would have been. 

 This mode of bearing the fructification renders it so 

 strikingly obvious at first sight, and gives the plant an 

 aspect so entirely different from that of those in which 

 the fructification is more or less concealed by its position 

 on the under surface, that the Oamunda, though classified 

 as one of the Cryptogamous or flowerless plants, is often 

 anomalously called the Flowering Fern. In truth, the 

 contracted chocolate-coloured apex looks not unlike a 

 dense panicle of small brown flowers crowning the tall 

 straight stem, whose lower pinnse have much the appearance 

 of broad green leaves. There is but one native species. 



The name of the genus has given rise to some speculation 

 as to its derivation, and the question is still open. Some 

 derive it from the Saxon muncl y which they say signifies 

 strength. Others consider the word expressive of domestic 

 peace, and derive it from the Saxon os, house, and mund, 



