A tall fern whose upper fronds end in a rusty-brown, flower-like spike of spores
Royal fern — the 'flowering fern'.
Nature · Ferns, grasses & other plants
Royal fern
Native · deciduous fern to 1.5 m or more · bogs, wet woods and ditches, mainly in the west
Osmunda regalis — Osmundaceae
Royal fern is Britain's most majestic fern, forming great clumps of bright green, twice-divided fronds more than 1.5 m tall in bogs, wet woodland and ditches, mostly in the west. The fertile pinnae at the tips of the fronds turn rusty brown and look uncannily like a flower spike, giving it the folk name 'flowering fern' although it is a spore-bearer with no flowers at all. Victorian collectors and the orchid-growers' demand for osmunda fibre drove it to scarcity in many areas.
How to spot them
- ▸Tall clumps of bright green, twice-cut fronds with blunt, oblong leaflets in near-opposite pairs
- ▸Rusty-brown, tassel-like fertile pinnae crowning the frond tip, looking like a flower
- ▸Turns rich reddish-brown in autumn before dying back completely
- ▸Grows in permanently wet, acid ground: bogs, wet woodland, streamsides and ditches
- ▸Look-alike: ash or rowan foliage from a distance; but no other British fern has the terminal 'flower' of fertile tissue
How to know it
Once dug up by Victorian collectors, and harvested for a fibre used as a growing medium for orchids
Royal fern — osmunda fibre.
Its Latin species name means 'kingly', for its size and stature among British ferns
Royal fern — Osmunda regalis.
Bipinnate bright green fronds over 1.5 m tall that turn rich reddish-brown in autumn
Royal fern — deciduous.
A big wetland fern most widespread from north-west Scotland down to Cornwall, with fertile pinnae only at the frond tip
Royal fern.
Quick-fire facts
- •One of the tallest British ferns, exceeding 1.5 m in bogs and wet woodland (Wildlife Trusts); the RHS gives 1.5–2.5 m in gardens
- •Most widespread in the west of the British Isles, from north-west Scotland down to Cornwall
- •The RHS records it as native to Great Britain and Ireland and has given it its Award of Garden Merit
- •The specialised fertile pinnae at the frond tip carry the spores; the rest of the frond is sterile and leafy
- •Victorian fern collecting and the trade in osmunda fibre for orchid compost helped reduce wild populations
- •A fern, not a flowering plant: the 'flowers' are clusters of sporangia, so there are no petals, seeds or fruit
Drill it — 6 cards
1 / 6new card
Sources
- The Wildlife Trusts — Royal fern
- Royal Horticultural Society — Osmunda regalis (royal fern)