THE OSMUNDAS. 35 
The flower- 
ing fern is 
pretty gener- 
ally distribu- 
ted from New 
Brunswick to 
Mississippi, Nebraska and the Northwest 
Territory. It is also found in Mexico, 
Europe, Asia, and South Africa. It should 
b e looked for in the half shaded swamps 
along the shores of lakes and ponds and 
on the banks of streams. It will grow in 
cultivation but must be given plenty of 
water if one would have it produce the 
great fronds that constitute its chief beauty. 
This species was named from European material. 
American plants present some slight differences, espe- 
cially in the texture of the frond and the proportionate 
length of the stipes and may yet be proven to be a 
different species. In this event, our plant would be 
called O. spectabilis, having been described under this 
name by Willdenow. 
Authorities are not agreed as to the derivation of the 
word Osmunda. According to Prof. Underwood, it is 
from Osmunder a Saxon name for the god Thor. Others 
derive it from ‘“ Osmond the water-man ” of Loch Tyne, 
who is reported to have hidden wife and child from the 
Danes on anisland covered with this fern. Prof. Meehan 
has also pointed out that during the middle ages nodules 
of iron ore were known as “Osmonds.” Since these 
frequently contained impressions of our fern he suggests 
that the name may have originated in this way. There 
are six species in the genus, mostly in the North Temper- 
