Osmunda Regalis, Linn. 
FLOWERING FERN. 
Roots Radicles strong and fibrous, caudex large, often 
rising from a trunk stock of matted fibres a foot hioR or 
o O 
more, and many feet in circumference. 
Fronds — Fertile and 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, 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 midvein, each vein having three or four branches, 
which extend to the margin. 
Fructification — Clusters of spherical 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 branching spike-shaped 
mass of capsules. 
Habitat — Damp and boggy places. 
Locality — Near Ashborne. 
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