CRYPTOGAMIA— FILICES. Osmunda. 327 



Nat. Ord. Filices. Linn. 55. Jnss. 5. 



Capsules clustered, distinct, separately stalked, naked, 

 nearly globular, striated with a protuberance but no 

 ring, of 1 cell, and 2 incomplete, equal valves, burst- 

 ing longitudinally, at one side. Cover none. Seeds 

 numerous, minute. 



Root tufted. Frond doubly pinnate, entire or serrated. 

 Leaflets partially changed to panicled dense clusters of 

 small capsides. 



1. O, regalis. Common Osmund-royal. 



Leaflets oblong, nearly entire ; dilated, and somewhat au- 

 ricled, at the base. Clusters panicled, terminal. 



O. regalis. Linn.Sp.Pl.\b2\ . lVilld.v.5.97. PZ.Br.1108. Engl, 

 Bot.v. 3. t. 209. Hook. Lond.i. 150. Scot. p.2. 158. Bolt.Fil.6. 

 t. 5. Fl. Dan. t.2\7. Ehrh. Crypt. 42. 



O. Filix florida. Loh. Ic. 813./. 



Filix ramosa, non dentata^ florida. Bauh.Pm.357. Rail Syn. 125. 



F. botryites, sive florida major, pinnulis non dentatis, ex adverse 

 nascentibus. Moris. «. 3. 593. sect. 14.t.4.f. 1. 



F. florida, sive Osmunda regalis. Ger. Em. 1 131,/. 



F. majoris alterum genus. Trag. Hist. 543. f. 



F. latifolia. Cord. Hist. 134. f. 



F. palustris. Dod. Pempt. 463./. 



F. aquatica, et F. florescens. Dalech. Hist. 1225./,/. 



In deep watery bogs, woods, and meadows, not very common. 



Perennial. June, July. 



Root tuberous, hard, scaly, beset with numerous fibres, and having 

 in the centre a whitish core, which some persons, according to 

 Gerarde, have named the heart of Osmund the Water-man. 

 Fronds several, erect, two or three feet high, doubly pinnate, 

 smooth, bright green ; the primary divisions from six to ten, 

 nearly opposite, hardly a span long ; leajlets more numerous, 

 often decidedly alternate, sessile, or nearly so, oblong, bluntish, 

 entire, or obscurely crenate, with one rib, and numerous trans- 

 verse veins ; the base dilated, heart-shaped, or somewhat lobcd. 

 Some of the upper leaflets are cut, and as it were partially trans- 

 muted into dense clusters, or spikes, of capsules, several of the 

 upper divisions of the frond consisting entirely of such capsules, 

 composing a compound panicle. Each capsule is light brown, 

 veiny, supported by a short stalk. Nothing has been discovered 

 of the stigma, barren powers, or mode of impregnation. The 

 seeds are numerous, nearly globular. 



The name of Osmunda appears to have originated in England. 

 Osmund, in Saxon, is the proper name of a man, said to mean 

 domestic peace : so that Osmunda is nearly equivalent to Lysi- 



