Os munp a Regalis, Linn. 
FLOWERING FERN. 
Roots — Radicles strong and fibrous, caudex large, often 
rising from a trunk-stock of matted fibres a foot high or 
more, and many feet in circumference. 
Fronds — Fertile or barren, six inches to many feet in 
height, and often two feet broad. The barren fronds ex- 
ternal, erect, and pinnate. 
Stipes — Usually as long as the frond. 
Pinnae — Opposite, subovate, pinnate. 
Pinnules — Linear-oblong, in pairs, rounded or auricled 
at the base, crenate, blunt-pointed; the apex of the fertile 
frond consists of a spike-like cluster of spores. 
Venation — Prominent, lateral veins branching alternately 
from the costa, each vein having three or four branches, 
which extend to the margin. 
Fructification — Clusters of obovate globose capsules on 
lateral veins, occupying the summit of the central fronds ; 
the leafy part of which is often lost, the whole of the 
pinnule, and even of the frond, becoming a branching spike 
of fruit. 
Habitat — Damp and boggy places. 
Locality — Near Ashbourne, Darley, and Derwent Dales. 
‘22 
