. . a Gallis Osmunde . . [Dalech. 1586. Hist. 1225.] 
The plant was in all probability named in hono7' of 
St, Osmonde one of the followers of William the Con- 
queror^ afterwards bishop of Salisbury. 
Robust plants, growing in large clusters. Rootstock 
creeping. Leaves 2-pinnatifid to 2-pinnate. Sporecases 
borne on pinnae without parenchyma. 
t Leaves 2-pinnate,^ upper portion fertile, 
O. regalis L. PI. 2. 
Filix Virginiana, non dentata^ florida^ foliisal- 
ternis . . Pluk, Phyt. t. 181. f . 4. 
Filix florida^ seu Osmunda regalis . . Gron. Fl. 
Virg. 123. 
Osmunda regalis L. Sp. PI. 1065. Eaton,, Ferns 
N. Am. I : 209. t. 28 ; in Gray, Man. 693. Und, 
in 111. Fl. I : 5 : Nat. Ferns ; in Britt. Man. 4. 
Clute^ Ferns 32. Waters ,,Ycrn^. 29S. 
Osmund the Waterman. Roval Fern. 
Plants I m. high or more ; rootstock stout, bearing a 
cluster of 2-pinnate leaves ; pinnules oblong or lanceolate- 
oblong, sessile or nearly so, very variable ; uppermost pin- 
nae spore-bearing. 
In wet, shaded places. June- August. 
Near Baltimore, Waters ; in low places about Washington ; in 
Dismal Swamp, Va., Coville, Kearny^ W. Palmer ; Yorismouih, 
Brittofi and Small. At Chesapeake Beach, Md., Lhib fern is at its 
best — a true queen among our ferns. 
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