''Osmunda'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of primarily temperate-zone

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except t ...

s of

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Osmundaceae Osmundaceae (royal fern family) is a family of ferns containing four to six extant genera and 18–25 known species. It is the only living family of the order Osmundales in the class Polypodiopsida (ferns) or in some classifications the only ord ...

. Five to ten

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

have been listed for this genus.

Description

Completely dimorphic

frond A frond is a large, divided leaf. In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group. Other botanists allow the term frond to also apply to the lar ...

s or pinnae (hemidimorphic), green

photosynthetic Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism's activities. Some of this chemical energy is stored in c ...

sterile fronds, and non-photosynthetic

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...

-bearing fertile pinnae, with large, naked

sporangia A sporangium (; from Late Latin, ) is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a single cell or can be multicellular. Virtually all plants, fungi, and many other lineages form sporangia at some point in their life cy ...

. Because of the large mass of

that ripen uniformly at the same time to a showy golden color, the ferns look as if they are in flower, and so this genus is sometimes called the "flowering ferns".

Taxonomy

''Osmunda'', the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearing type of a nominal f ...

of the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

Osmundales Osmundaceae (royal fern family) is a family of ferns containing four to six extant genera and 18–25 known species. It is the only living family of the order Osmundales in the class Polypodiopsida (ferns) or in some classifications the only ord ...

has historically been the largest genus in the family

. Smith et al. (2006), who carried out the first higher-level

pteridophyte A pteridophyte is a vascular plant (with xylem and phloem) that disperses spores. Because pteridophytes produce neither flowers nor seeds, they are sometimes referred to as "cryptogams", meaning that their means of reproduction is hidden. Ferns, ...

classification published in the

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

era, described three genera in that family, namely ''Osmunda'', ''

Leptopteris The fern genus ''Leptopteris'' is a small group of plants found growing in the Pacific Islands, New Guinea and Australia. They are similar to ferns in the related genus ''Todea'', and were originally included in that genus. However, the very thin ...

'', and ''

Todea The fern genus ''Todea'' is known from only two living species. ''Todea barbara'' L., known as the king fern, is native to South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia while ''Todea papuana'' H. is known only from Papua New Guinea. Species in the gen ...

''. The genus has also been treated historically as consisting of a number of subgroups, generally subgenera, ''Osmunda'' (3 species), ''Osmundastrum'' (2 species), and ''Plenasium'' (3–4 species). However, there was suspicion that the genus was not

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

. The publication of a detailed

phylogeny A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spec ...

of the family by Metzgar et al. in 2008 showed that ''Osmunda'' as

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every polyg ...

was

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

and that ''

Osmunda cinnamomea ''Osmundastrum'' is genus of leptosporangiate ferns in the family Osmundaceae with one living species, ''Osmundastrum cinnamomeum'', the cinnamon fern. It is native to the Americas and eastern Asia, growing in swamps, bogs and moist woodlands. I ...

'', despite its morphological similarity to ''

Osmunda claytoniana ''Claytosmunda'' is a genus of fern. It has only one extant species, ''Claytosmunda claytoniana'' ( synonym ''Osmunda claytoniana''), the interrupted fern, native to Eastern Asia, Eastern United States, and Eastern Canada. The specific epithet ...

'', was

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

to the rest of the family, and resurrected the segregate genus ''Osmundastrum'', by elevating it from subgenus, to contain it and render ''Osmunda''

. The phylogeny of ''Osmunda'' is shown in the following cladograms. A number of authors have proposed elevating the subgenera to separate genus level, In 2016 the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group (PPG) classification split ''Osmunda'' further by elevating its subgenera to genera as ''Claytosmunda'' and ''Plenasium'', leaving only the species originally included in subgenus ''Osmunda''. *'' O. abyssinica'' (Kuhn 1879) Bobrov *'' O. acuta'' (Burm.fil. 1768) Fraser-Jenk. *'' O. chengii'' Bomfleur, Grimm & McLoughlin 'Osmunda claytoniites'' Phipps, Taylor & Taylor non Graham 1963">Osmunda_claytoniites.html" ;"title="'Osmunda claytoniites">'Osmunda claytoniites'' Phipps, Taylor & Taylor non Graham 1963ref>Thomas N. Taylor, Edith L. Taylor, Michael Krings: Paleobotany. The Biology and Evolution of Fossil Plants . Second Edition, Academic Press 2009, , p. 437-443 *'' O. herbacea'' Copeland *'' O. hybrida'' Tsutsumi et al. *'' O. × intermedia'' *'' O. japonica'' Thunberg (Japanese flowering fern) *'' O. lancea'' Thunberg (Japanese lancea flowering fern) *'' O. x mildei'' *'' O. piresii'' Brade 1965 *'' O. regalis'' L. (Old World royal fern) *'' O. × ruggii'' *''Osmunda spectabilis">O. spectabilis'' Willdenow (American royal fern) *''Osmunda wehrii">O. wehrii'' Miller (Middle Miocene, Washington state)

Etymology

The derivation of the genus name is uncertain. A leading theory is that it is from an English folk tale of a boatman named Osmund hiding his wife and children in a patch of royal fern during the Danish invasion. Other theories propose that it is from Middle English and Middle French words for a type of fern.

Ecology

''Osmunda'' species are used as food plants by the

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

species including the engrailed. One of the species, the

cinnamon fern ''Osmundastrum'' is genus of leptosporangiate ferns in the family Osmundaceae with one living species, ''Osmundastrum cinnamomeum'', the cinnamon fern. It is native to the Americas and eastern Asia, growing in swamps, bogs and moist woodlands. I ...

(''Osmundastrum cinnamomeum'') forms huge clonal colonies in

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

areas. These ferns form massive rootstocks with densely matted, wiry roots. This root mass is an excellent substrate for many epiphytal plants. They are often harvested as

osmundine ''Osmunda'' is a genus of primarily temperate-zone ferns of family Osmundaceae. Five to ten species have been listed for this genus. Description Completely dimorphic fronds or pinnae (hemidimorphic), green photosynthetic sterile fronds, and n ...

and used horticulturally, especially in propagating and growing

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * , in * Phipps, C.J., Taylor, T.N., Taylor, E.L., Cuneo, N.R., Boucher, L.D., and Yao, X. (1998). ''Osmunda'' (Osmundaceae) from the Triassic of Antarctica: An example of evolutionary stasis. American Journal of Botany 85: 888-895

External links

Germplasm Resources Information Network: ''Osmunda''Flora of North America: ''Osmunda''
*http://data.gbif.org/species/browse/taxon/13191108 {{Taxonbar, from=Q1427328 Osmundales Extant Triassic first appearances Fern genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus