Royal fern
Osmunda regalis
Family · Osmundaceae · Harmless
Europe's largest fern, capable of passing two metres, and one of the oldest: the lineage is 200 million years old. It only grows on shady banks of clean water.
Streams and ditches · Uplands · Oak woods
Also known asflowering fern
How to tell it
A huge symmetrical crown with fronds of broad rounded leaflets. The fertile fronds stand up in the centre and turn brown like spikes, which fools anyone who thinks ferns do not flower.
What it is confused with
Bracken
Pteridium aquilinum
The place decides almost always: royal fern wants water and shade and grows in a crown; bracken covers dry slopes and comes up spaced out.
Open sheet →What it is for
None to encourage. It was gathered en masse for gardening and orchid substrate, which pushed it to rarity across much of the country.
The law says
A protected species in Portugal. Do not gather, uproot or transplant it.