Royal Fern - Osmunda regalis

Magnificent large fern characterised by a thick underground rhizome giving a tuft of 2-pinnate fronds up to two metres tall. It has distinct sterile and fertile fronds. The former have large, lanceolate pinnules, usually opposite but sometimes alternate, the latter are all concentrated on the apical portion and are transformed into a sort of panicle composed of much smaller pinnules covered with green sporangia, which turn a rust colour as they ripen. The Royal Fern belongs to a very old genus, found as a fossil as far back as the Tertiary layers. It can be recognised from the other ferns by special primitive characters, for example the sporangia have no protective membrane and all ripen at the same time. It lives in damp woods, on acid soils often at the foot of the European Alder. In Italy it is still fairly common in the northern and Tyrrhenian regions but rare or absent in the eastern and Adriatic side of the peninsular. This seems to confirm the plant's preference for a wet Atlantic type of climate. It is still common in the Sphagnum bog at Sibolla but is declining on the banks in the marshland areas. On the eastern Fucecchio Marshes, it is still possible to admire a splendid Osmunda stand growing on a small island in the Ramone Marshlet. It also occurs in the hygophilous Alder woods in the Bientina Marshes (at Tanali), at Mount Pisano and the Cerbaie Hills. A hairless and glaucous perennial, with woody underground rhizome. The stems, from 50 to 150 cm tall, are erect and branched. Alternate, lanceolate leaves, almost always undivided, up to seven centimetres long. The yellowish flowers are arranged in thick much branched umbel-like clusters. Each flower actually consists of an unusual inflorescence, called a "cyathium", which is formed of five male flowers reduced to just the stamens and a single female flower, represented by the ovary, in the centre. Each cyanthium has four nectiferous glands which attract pollinating insects. It flowers from the end of April to June. Like other plants of the genus, the Marsh Spurge produces an irritating and poisonous milk. This species is still common in the Po Valley along the most important rivers but it is much rarer in peninsular Italy. In Tuscany it can be found along the banks of ditches and water courses in the Lucca and Pistoia Plains, in the Bientina Marshes and Maremma. It is falling in number everywhere, due to fortification of river banks and other interventions that are gradually eliminating its habitat.

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