192 
SUB-ORDER III.—OSMUNDACE/: 
Capsule two-valved, opening across the apex 
with a. short horizontal ring; vernation 
circinate. : a ae 
Genus. XLVIII—Osmunpa L. 
(Deriv. Osmunder, 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. 
a 
Osmunda ‘regalis L. 
Caudex stout, erect. Stipes tufted, 12-18 
inches long. Fronds. 2-4 feet long, 1 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.] 
