CBYPTOGAMIA FILICES 585 



Sect* 3. Capsules destitute of a ring, reticulated, striated with 

 rai/s at the apex, bursting lengthwise, and usual! 'if externally. Os- 

 mund a c k s. Lin dl. 



469. OSMUNDA. L. Mttt. Gen. 815. 

 [A name <>f obscure Etymology,— sakl to be of Northern origin.] 



('upsides subglobosc, pedicellate, nuliate-Mriate, balf SJ-valved, — clus- 

 tered on the contracted fronds, — or in terminal paniculate racemes. 

 Jndusium none. 



1. O. iNTKit;tui»TA, JMx. Frond pinnate, smooth; pinn© nearly op- 

 posite, pinnalifid; segments oblong, cntiic; some of the intermediate 

 pinna? fertile. Beck, Bot. p. 137. 



0. Claytoniana. MuhL CataL p. $7. Not of Linn* &e. (See Joum. 

 .had. Nut. Sc. PhihuL vol. 0. /;. 39). 



I XTE It It PTED Os.M U NDA. 



Frond* 1 to near 2 feet long, and 3 or 4 to 6 or / inches wide, erect, lance-oblong 

 in their outline, pinnate, smooth, yellowish-green, interrupted near the middle l»y 



2 or 3 pairs of contracted fertile pinna? ; divisions or pinna 2 to4 inches long, and 



3 fourths o( an inch loan inch and quarter wide, oblong-lanceolate in their outline, 

 distinct, subsessilc, opposite, or nearly so, deeply pinnalifid (ihe fertile ones pin- 

 nate, or sub-bipinnate),— the segment* about half an inch long, oval-oblong, mostly 

 obtuse, sometimes rather acute, alternate, or often nearly opposite, entire, penni-- 

 nerved,— the nerves parallel, regularly bifurcating soon after leaving the midrib, 

 tinaliy purple ;— (he fertile pinna in 2 to -1 pairs near ihe middle of the frond, I to 

 2 inches long, and half an inch to 3 quarters wide, ovate-lanceolate in their out- 

 line, pinnate, or bi pinnate, with the pinnules, or segments, entirely covered with 

 clusters of small dark-brown capsules, and resembling compound racemes ; com- 

 mon rurliis channelled above, somewhat pubescent ; stipe 6 10 9 or 12 inches l-mc, 

 channelled, smoolhisii, cliafty-tonicniose at base. 



Hub. Moist low grounds, and thickets: frequent. Fr. June—July. 



2. O. spkctahilis, Willd. Frond bipinnate, fertile at summit ; pin- 

 nules lance-oblong, serrulate, sub-petiolate ; raceme large, decompound, 

 smooth. Beck. hot. p. 457. 



0. regalia. Mx. Am. 2. /;. 273. BigeU Bast. p. 388. Torr. Comp.p. 

 386. Eat. Jl fan. p. 243. Not 1 ot L. Willd. Ait. Lindl. &c. 

 Show i Qsmunda, 



Fronds 3 to 4 feet high, branching, bipinnate, smooth, pale greyish-green ;/>*'w- 

 mdes alternate, on very short petioles, 1 to 2 inches long, and 1 fourth to 2 thirds 

 of an inch wide, lance-oblong, raiher obtuse, sometimes \m ute, obliquely truncate 

 at base, or the lower half slightly produced, serrulate on the margin, somewhat 

 penninerved, with the nerves a liule prominent, irregularly and often twice bi- 

 furcating, greenish ;— the fertile juntue, at the summit, the pinnules contracted, 

 and covered with clusters of minute smooth capsules, which are at first palo 

 greenish-lawny, finally ferruginous,— forming altogether a terminal oblong de- 

 compound raceme 1 to G or 8 inches in length ; stipe and branches smooth, pale 

 tawny, or straw-color. 



Hub. Moist meadows, and thickets: frequent. Fr. July. 



Obs. Mr. NuUail considers this handsome fern as scarcely distinct from the 

 0. regalis, of Europe,— whilst Willdenoto says " simillima—sed species distirtctis. 

 $ima." Not having any specimens of the European plant, I cannot venture aa 

 opinion. 



