GENERA AND SPECIES. 137 
PLATE LIV. 
OSMUNDA CINNAMOMEA. Linnzus. 
CINNAMON FERN. 
This is the only one of the Flowering Ferns in which 
the fertile frond differs very materially from the sterile. In 
early summer it sends up a tall frond thickly clothed with 
rusty wool. This frond is twice-pinnate, and is composed 
entirely of cinnamon-colored fruit-cases. The sterile frond 
bears opposite lanceolate pinnz, with broadly obtuse divi- 
sions. The fertile frond is very short-lived, withering in 
the early part of July, either lying shriveled at the base, or 
hanging to the fertile frond, which has now arrived at its 
greatest perfection, and is very smooth. The latter often 
attains the height of five feet, a tall majestic plant which, 
in the swamps of the Northern United States, becomes a 
very conspicuous object. 
The finest specimens I have obtained were found near 
Livingston, Rockcastle County. It grows also in the Wet 
Woods, near Louisville, and in a swamp at Prospect, on 
the Narrow Gauge Railroad. 
On account of the great size of the Flowering Ferns, it 
is difficult to show any thing more than their general struc- 
ture in the drawings. 
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