286 
Choice Ferns for Amateurs. 
induce the development of roots, whicli will run in 
all directions, and thus insure the production of 
numerous robust fronds. Though requiring an 
abundance of water at the roots at all times of the 
year, the plants dislike being syringed overhead. 
The propagation of Osmundas is invariably effected 
by means of spores, which are produced in abundance 
and germinate very freely. 
O. cinnamomea. 
This very handsome and perfectly hardy species is 
usually considered as a purely North American plant. It 
has, however, a very wide range of habitat. It is of robust 
growth and compact habit, and when deprived of fertile 
fronds its general appearance is very similar to that of 
0. Claytoniana (0. interrupta, as that species is usually called 
in gardens) ; in fact, in the absence of fructification it is 
not always easy to distinguish one from the other. When 
well grown, the crown of fronds of this species rivals in 
density that of 0. Claytoniana, and the barren fronds, 
which in this case are by far the more numerous, are of 
almost the same shape and dimensions as those of that 
species. 0. cinnamomea is generally of more upright habit, 
but the most striking difference between the two species, 
discernible only when in a barren state, is that in the plant 
under notice the summit of the frond is decidedly sharp- 
pointed, as is also the summit of eacK. 
O. Claytoniana. 
Of all the known species of the genus, this is the most 
conspicuous. When growing in a favourable situation and 
allowed ample room, it forms a crown of fronds several feet 
in diameter. The outer fronds, which are generally barren, 
are borne on tufted, loosely-woolly stalks, which are 1ft. or 
more in length and clothed with loose, woolly material when 
young, though naked when mature ; they rise nearly erect 
on their stalks, but, instead of retaining their upright 
position, like those of 0. cinnamomea, they gradually bend 
away from the centre and curve outwards in all directions 
(Fig. 112), thus forming a most elegant, vase-shaped plant 
of large dimensions. 
O. interrupta. 
A garden name for 0. Claytoniana. 
O. javanica. 
A handsome and very distinct, stove species, also known 
as 0. Fresliana and 0. Vachclli. It is of somewhat rigid 
