Osmunda regalis

Perennial fern of the Osmundaceae family, with a very wide distribution, present in Europe, Africa, Asia, and America. In Europe, it grows by watercourses, in bogs, alder groves, and moist riparian forests, on acidic soils, constantly fresh to waterlogged. The photographs perfectly illustrate this fidelity to flowing water, with clumps developing directly at the edge of torrents, among the rocks.

It is one of the largest ferns of temperate Europe, forming clumps in an expanded vase shape from 80 to 150 cm, sometimes more in very favorable conditions. The fronds are bipinnate, with a fresh bright green in spring, turning yellow-red in autumn before disappearing. Some fronds bear at their top fertile segments densely covered with reddish-brown sporangia, giving the appearance of an upright fructification above the sterile foliage.

The rhizome, very thick and fibrous, rises with age into a characteristic spongy pseudo-trunk. This fibrous substrate, called osmundine, was once used as a growing medium for epiphytic orchids.

In cultivation, it requires an acidic, humus-rich soil, constantly moist, in partial shade or full light if moisture is ensured. It is perfectly suited for the banks of a water feature or stream, in moist woodland gardens on siliceous soil.