818 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



formed the most prominent feature throughout the Killarney dis- 

 trict was the Osmunda regalis, or flowering fern. This stately- 

 species is not unfrequently called the king fern, and certainly it 

 well deserves its regal name, which, however, appears to have 

 been bestowed upon it through other circumstances than its 

 crested form. Its name, Osmunda, is of Saxon origin, and per- 

 haps was given in honor of some chief who in olden time bore the 

 name of Osmund, that being one of the titles of Thor, the Celtic 

 Thunderer. This attractive plant is so different in its appearance 

 from other species that the botanist only would recognize it to be 

 a fern, unless the veining of its leafy frond were examined. It 

 generally rises to the height of five or six feet, and in congenial 

 situations not unfrequently attains the height of ten feet. The 

 young fronds of the Osmunda are usually about ten or twelve in 

 number. Their large leaf -sprays are thin and crisp, and of a 

 bright sea-green color, usually assuming a deeper green as the 

 plant grows older. The stalk, which is at first reddish brown, 

 afterward becomes green, and contrasts well with the rich rust- 

 brown spikes of fructification. Nothing could be more beautiful, 

 more in accordance with the surroundings, than the manner in 

 which a considerable portion of the two lakes were literally 

 fringed by the Osmunda, the long fronds of which arched grace- 

 fully over and dipped their masses of seed in the crystal water, 

 while beneath the canopy thus afforded them the saucy coots 

 flitted to and fro and gazed fearlessly upon the passing stranger. 



Though some of the ferns I have mentioned may have superior 

 claims in the eyes of botanists and collectors of rare species, it 

 must be acknowledged that there is not one more universally popu- 

 lar than the graceful Athyrium filix fc&mina, or lady fern. Indeed, 

 not a few botanists have pronounced it to be the loveliest of all 

 British ferns, possessing as well the great charm of commonness. 

 Walter Scott, alluding to this plant in " Waverley," mentions its 

 love for the moist, shady woodlands : 



" Where the copsewood is the greenest, 

 Where the fountain glistens sheenest, 

 Where the morning dew lies longest, 

 There the lady fern grows strongest." 



Undoubtedly, among the copsewood which covers a consider- 

 able portion of those grand hills which cast their shadows over 

 the upper and lower lakes of Killarney, the lady fern attains a 

 perfection not observable elsewhere, though the writer has gath- 

 ered a somewhat scarce variety (A. latifolium) near Keswick, in 

 Cumberland, and also a very peculiar species called crispum at 

 Braemar, in Scotland. The plant is doubtless too well known to 

 need description here, though it may be observed that its fecun- 



