Osmunda 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 and barren. The barren fronds external, 
erect and pinnate. 
Stipes — As long as the frond. 
Pinnae — Opposite, subova te, pinnate. 
Pinnules — Linear-oblong, cordate, in pairs, crenate, rounded 
at the point : the apex of the fertile frond consists of a spike- 
like cluster of spores. 
Venation — Prominent, lateral veins branching alternately 
from the mid vein, each vein having three or four branches, 
which extend to the margin. 
Fructification — Spherical clusters of capsules on each 
lateral vein, occupying the summit of the central fronds : the 
leafy part is often quite lost, the whole of the pinnule, and 
even of the frond, becoming a spike-shaped mass of capsules. 
Habitat — Damp, and boggy places. 
Locality — Near Ashbourne. 
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