Royal Fern

ESSEX BOTANY AND MYCOLOGY GROUPS

Osmunda regalis:

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Osmunda regalis L. Royal Fern

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Light 6. Wetness 9. pH 5. Fertility 4. Height <4m. Native & Planted.

Native. A large to very large long-lived gregarious fern, with clusters of tussocks living for hundreds of years. The bipinnate fronds, stand upright, and the large pinnules on short stalks are from 2-8cm long, are blunt at the base and rounded at the apex. The sporangia occur in serial rows along the midribs of the uppermost pinnae which have reduced laminae. The dense fibrous tuttocks were heavily collected in Victorian times as a substrate for orchid culture (Page 1997) and many sites have been lost through drainage. It now only survives thinly scattered across the country with concentrations in the East Anglian fens, the south-west, Cumbria, north-west Scotland, the western Isles and western Ireland. Found in a wide range of markedly acid, non-calcareous, wet, peaty, bog and fen habitats. It can be a huge plant varying from 60cm to 4m in height and 1m across a tussock, its separately differentiated fertile fronds resemble a fruiting tassel of rhubarb. The tussocks build up in height with age and give rise to multiple crowns. In Essex, large old tussocky colonies may still occur in a few sites on estates where it has been planted, otherwise it is a sporadic ephemeral fern that seldom persists. It probably occurs on a number of private estates where planted as an ornamental in addition to those recorded. It seems to have been lost from all of the dozen or so localities reported in Gibson's Flora of Essex 1862. Jermyn 1974 suggests that these were probably native colonies, and that the plants at Warley Place probably came from Warley Woods. Presumably most of the other colonies were also dug up and transferred to gardens.

Post 1930 records:

TQ(51)49	4783,9333	18	Knighton Wood, by the lake. 1953. Bernard T Ward; on projecting promontory, southern margin, 3 small and one large clump. July 1988; Only 3 clumps left now, getting enveloped in bamboo and grey willow October 2011; K J Adams.
		18	Epping Forest, Great Monk Wood. 1919. Percy G Thompson. (Now gone K J Adams).
	47,95	18	Lambourne, Bishops Hall. c.1980. Brian Coombes.
TQ(51)59	5832,9086	18	Warley Place, by pond. 1964. Stanley T Jermyn. Still present 2012 & 2014. Enid \|Barrie & K J Adams.
	57,95+	18	South Weald Park, one plant in newly dug drainage gulley. 1972. Stanley T Jermyn.
TL(52)70	76,04	18	Danbury Palace, several large plants by one of the lakes. 1964. Stanley T Jermyn. (No sign 2012. K J Adams.)
	76850,04880	18	Danbury Palace, north east corner of lowest lake. 2003. Chris Romer.
TL(52)71	770,143	19	Terling Place, by the lake. 1966. Stanley T Jermyn.
TL(52)60	687,046	18	Long Pond, Hylands Park : one (plus three dead), probably planted. 2001. Graham Smith.
TL(52)81	83,10	19	Wickham Hall ?, 1 September 1988. Jeremy J Heath & Terri Tarpey.
	859,112	19	Great Totham Gravel Pit. 1 small plant under Birch. 21 October 1987. Tim Pyner.
	88,14	19	Tiptree Heath, a number of small plants, stunted through lack of water, 1966. A.G.Jones and Stanley T. Jermyn; 1971. Brit.Pterid,Soc.
TL(52)91	90,18+	19	Pods Wood, 3 plants. 1972. Brit.Pterid.Soc.
TM(62)01	04,19	19	Fingringhoe Wick, 1989. Laurie Forsyth;1 plant 20 July 1991. Tim Pyner; gone by 2004. Laurie Forsyth.

Pre-1930 records:

TQ(51)49	18	Woodford. Richard Warner. (Gibson's Flora of Essex 1862).
TQ(51)39	18	Chingford. Richard Warner. (Gibson's Flora of Essex 1862).
TL(52)40	19	Epping Lower Forest, very rare. Edward Forster. (Gibson's Flora of Essex 1862).
TQ(51)59	18	In several bogs on a Common nr. Brentwood. John Gerard. (Gibson's Flora of Essex 1862).
	18	Boggy thicket nr. Warley Common. Edward Forster. . [specimen sent for illustration of the species in English Botany]. (Gibson's Flora of Essex 1862)
TL(62)70	18	In wood nr. Danbury Common. E. Varenne. (Gibson's Flora of Essex 1862).
	18	Little Baddow Common. Edward Forster. (Gibson's Flora of Essex 1862).
	18	Lingwood. E. Varenne. (Gibson's Flora of Essex 1862).
TL(52)81	19	Near Witham. W. Hind. (Gibson's Flora of Essex 1862).
TQ(51)99	18	Pagelsham Marshes. Henry Ibbotson. (Gibson's Flora of Essex 1862).
TM(62)02	19	Ardleigh. Ezekiel Varenne. (Gibson's Flora of Essex 1862).
TM(62)02	19	Crockleford. Ezekiel Varenne. (Gibson's Flora of Essex 1862).