Royal Fern, Osmunda spectabilis June 2023 Plant of the Month By Betsy Washington

Statuesque fronds of Royal Fern Can Reach over 5’ high

Royal Fern, Osmunda spectabilis, is one of our most imposing native ferns and is distinctive in every way. Growing 5 or 6’ tall with a light textured, elegant habit it is nothing short of spectacular. Everything about the Royal fern is notable from the tightly coiled, wine-red ﬁddleheads (called croziers) that emerge in late spring to its statuesque height to its two different types of fronds (dimorphic). Royal ferns are members of the genus Osmunda, one of the most ancient groups of ferns some mes referred to as “living fossils”. They evolved over 200 – 300 million years ago with reproductive structures born on separate fronds. The green sterile or leafy fronds are bipinnate with widely spaced, oblong leaﬂets or pinnae with smooth edges that some mes look more like a legume than a fern. The fertile fronds bear densely contracted, reproductive structures at the end of their blades that have no chlorophyll. Instead, the reproduc ve ssue consists of rounded spore-producing structures (sporangia) that grow at the top of the fronds, like a “crown” giving rise to the common name, Royal Fern. These clusters are thought to resemble clusters of flowers” leading to another common name, Flower Fern. The reproductive parts are at first bluish green then gradually change to tan. The fertile fronds wither away in early summer atier the spores have been released. The tightly coiled fronds emerge in late April or May in our area, as picturesque ﬁddleheads that are briefly a vivid wine red covered in rusty hairs but soon become green and nearly smooth. In fall, the foliage of Royal Ferns turns brilliant yellow gold illuminating the fall garden and woodlands. Royal ferns grow in a large, vase-shaped clump from a somewhat erect creeping rhizome that forms a mound or hummock above ground at the base, elevating the crown of the plant above the wet soil. Royal Ferns are exceptionally long-lived, and the rhizomes grow very slowly; it may take a couple of decades for them to expand into colonies.

*Royal Fern Grows in Vase-Shaped Clumps*

Royal Ferns are found in every county in Virginia in a variety of wet to damp soils that are saturated or seasonally flooded including both forested and open swamps, and seasonally flooded and tidal wetlands and rich, moist woods and bottomlands. They are adaptable to a variety of soils from nutrient-poor acidic peats to calcium or base-rich mineral soils so long as they are consistently moist.

Royal Ferns make their best growth in full sun in wet soils where they obtain their most spectacular growth and height. Add some drama to your shade garden by planting Royal Ferns along the edges of a pond or stream or in wet woods, a shady, humus-rich border, a bog garden, or even a large container and stand back and enjoy their fine, lush texture and spectacular size. Royal fern will grow in consistently moist, rich soils with plenty of organic matter especially in shade with a li le supplemental watering in dry spells. They are resistant to deer, rabbits, insects and diseases, heavy shade, and seasonally ﬂooded soils, and make an extremely longlived and elegant addition to any garden. If you are lucky enough to have this statuesque fern growing naturally on your property, get out and admire it from its ﬁrst emergence in spring to its unique early summer flowers” to its stunning yellow-gold fall color and revel in the fact that this plant is truly a “living fossil” that has been around since the time of the dinosaurs and yet continues to provide spectacular beauty and elegance ﬁt for royalty!

Plant of the Month June 2023: Royal Fern