''Osmunda regalis'', or royal fern,
is a
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of
deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
fern
The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...
,
native
Native may refer to:
People
* '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood
* '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth
* Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory
** Nat ...
to Europe, Africa and Asia, growing in woodland
bog
A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...
s and on the banks of streams. The species is sometimes known as flowering fern due to the appearance of its fertile fronds.
Description
Royal fern is a large perennial
herb
Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...
with stout ascending
rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...
s that over many years build up a woody, trunk-like base covered by interwoven roots, 1 m or more high. The
frond
A frond is a large, divided leaf. In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group. Other botanists allow the term frond to also apply to the lar ...
s, or leaves, arise directly from this rhizome and are very large, typically up to 120 cm but exceptionally as much as 400 cm long and 30-40 cm broad. Each frond is
bipinnate, with 5–9 pairs of pinnae up to long, each pinna with 7–13 pairs of pinnules long and broad. Many of the fronds have a terminal fertile portion, where the blade is reduced almost to the midrib and densely covered with brown
sporangia
A sporangium (from Late Latin, ; : sporangia) is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a unicellular organism, single cell or can be multicellular organism, multicellular. Virtually all plants, fungus, fungi, and many ot ...
.
The fronds are at first covered with golden-brown hairs which quickly disappear, leaving a smooth, pale green surface to the leaves. Veins are prominent on both surfaces.

In the gametophyte stage, the prothallus is a small, green, fleshy plant just a few millimetres in size.
Distribution and status
The native range of royal fern is throughout Europe, North Africa and the Middle East as far as Iran, from Norway south to Algeria. It is listed as introduced in New Zealand, but its presence throughout North America is based on the taxonomic uncertainty about whether ''
Osmunda spectabilis'' should be considered a separate species or not.
In many areas, ''O. regalis'' has become rare as a result of wetland drainage for agriculture.
Taxonomy
The name ''Osmunda'' possibly derives from ''Osmunder'', a Saxon name for the god Thor.
The name "royal fern" derives from its being one of the largest and most imposing European ferns. The name has been qualified as "old world royal fern" in some American literature to distinguish it from the closely related American royal fern, ''
O. spectabilis''. However this terminology is not found in British literature.
Evolution
The oldest known fossils of ''
Osmunda'' date to the
Paleocene
The Paleocene ( ), or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), ...
, ''Osmunda'' likely derives from fossil species currently assigned to ''
Claytosmunda''.
Varieties
There are three to four
varieties as traditionally construed:
*''Osmunda regalis'' var. ''regalis''. Europe, Africa, southwest Asia. Sterile fronds to 160 cm tall.
*''Osmunda regalis'' var. ''panigrahiana'' R.D.Dixit. Southern Asia (India).
*''Osmunda regalis'' var. ''brasiliensis'' (Hook. & Grev.) Pic. Serm. Tropical regions of Central and South America; treated as a synonym of var. ''spectabilis'' by some authors.
*''Osmunda regalis'' var. ''spectabilis'' (Willdenow) A.Gray. Eastern North America. Sterile fronds to 100 cm tall. Now accepted as a separate species, ''Osmunda spectabilis''.
Similar species
There are three very similar species, ''
Osmunda spectabilis'', ''
Osmunda lancea'' and ''
Osmunda japonica''. Recent genetic analysis (Metzgar et al., 2008) has shown that the New World varieties are in a clade that is sister to the Old World varieties of ''Osmunda regalis''. If this is true, then ''O. lancea'' and ''O. japonica'' should either be regarded as varieties of ''O. regalis'', or, conversely, ''O. regalis var. spectabilis'' should be regarded as a separate species, ''Osmunda spectabilis''
Willdenow. The var. ''brasiliensis'' would then be ''Osmunda spectabilis''
Willdenow var. ''brasiliensis''
Hooker &
Greville.
Cultivation
''Osmunda regalis'' is widely cultivated in
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...
regions. The species and the cultivar 'Cristata' have both gained the
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity.
The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...
's
Award of Garden Merit
The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions.
It includes the full range of cultivated p ...
. Osmunda plants should be planted in preferably
acidic
An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. hydrogen cation, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis acid.
The first category of acids are the ...
, moist soil, associating well with other large moisture-loving plants such as ''
Rodgersia'' and ''
Gunnera''. However, it tolerates a range of soil and climatic conditions.
Other uses
The
root
In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often bel ...
s, along with those of other species of ''Osmunda'', are used for the production of
osmunda fibre, used as a growing medium for cultivated
orchid
Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...
s and other
epiphytic plants.
According to
Slavic mythology
Slavic paganism, Slavic mythology, or Slavic religion refer to the Religion, religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation of the Slavs, Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and ...
, the sporangia, called "
Perun
In Slavic paganism, Slavic mythology, Perun () is the highest god of the Pantheon (religion), pantheon and the god of sky, thunder, lightning, storms, rain, law, war, fertility and oak trees. His other attributes were fire, mountains, wind, ir ...
's flowers", have assorted magical powers, such as giving their holders the ability to defeat
demon
A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including
f ...
s, fulfill wishes, unlock secrets, and understand the language of trees. However, collecting the sporangia is a difficult and frightening process. In earlier traditions, they must be collected on
Kupala Night; later, after the arrival of Christianity, the date is changed to Easter eve. Either way, the person wanting to collect Perun's flowers must stand within a circle drawn around the plant and withstand the taunting or threats of demons.
The young shoots of the fern are, along with the similar shoots of many other fern species, known in some places as
fiddleheads, and eaten as food, thought to have an asparagus-like taste.
References
*Hyde, H. A., Wade, A. E., & Harrison, S. G. (1978). ''Welsh Ferns''. National Museum of Wales.
*Metzgar, Jordan S., Judith E. Skog, Elizabeth A. Zimmer, and Kathleen M. Pryer (2008). "The Paraphyly of Osmunda is Confirmed by Phylogenetic Analyses of Seven Plastid Loci."
Systematic Botany, 33(1): pp. 31–36
External links
Flora Europaea: ''Osmunda regalis''Flora of North America: ''Osmunda regalis'' var. ''spectabilis''Florida Institute for Systematic Botany: ''Osmunda regalis'' var. ''spectabilis''(including var. ''brasiliensis'' as a synonym)
{{Authority control
Osmundales
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
Ferns of Africa
Ferns of Asia
Ferns of Europe
Garden plants of North America