178 



The Ferx Lover's Cojipanion 



Ri.>\'al or FUiweriug Fern. 0.<fmiiiida rcguli-^ 



throw an indescribaljle charm over the damp meadows, 

 and clothe even the wet, stagnant swamps with beauty; 

 nor is the attraction less when their showy fronds expand 

 in summer and the green sporangia are turned to brown. 

 The stout rootstocks are often erect, rising several inches 

 to a foot above the ground, as if in imitation of a tree fern. 

 The poet Wordsworth hints at a somewhat different origin 

 of the name from that gi^-en here: 



"Fair ferns and flower.s and chiefly that tall fern 

 So stately of the Queen Osmunda named." 



