2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Osmunda (lat. Osmunda) - ornamental-leaved perennial fern, which is a representative of the Osmundaceae family. The second name is purest mouth.
Description
Osmunda is a moisture-loving decorative-leaved slow-growing perennial fern, the height of which can reach one and a half to two meters. Double-pinnate large green leaves of osmund form incredibly spectacular rosettes of regular shape.
The leaves of the osmund are large enough, once or twice pinnate and can be both filmy and leathery. And strong leaf petioles have small stipules near their bases. Moreover, in most of the osmundae, the leaves are divided into vegetative and spore-bearing parts. The vegetative parts are the most common green assimilating leaves, and the spore-bearing parts look like spectacular brown panicles.
Osmunda sporangia gather near the edges of the lobes in small groups. They are large enough and equipped with short legs, as well as walls formed by several layers of cells. And the dispute in these sporangia is always very, very much! However, rounded large spores lose their ability to germinate rather quickly - after ten days from the moment of their maturation, their germination capacity drops to thirty percent.
As for the time of the appearance of osmund, there are different points of view - some researchers argue that these ferns appeared at the end of the Carboniferous period, while others believe that this happened in the Upper Permian. In any case, the overwhelming majority of these marvelous ferns have become extinct long ago, and at present only four genera and about two dozen species have survived on our planet. By the way, osmundae are considered to be living fossils!
Where grows
Most often, osmund can be seen in the Far East, Southern Europe and North America. It is quite widespread both in the warm temperate zone and in the mid-mountain tropics or humid subtropics.
Usage
In our latitudes, three types of osmund are most often grown in the open field - these are the royal osmund, the Clayton osmund and the Asian osmund.
Young leaves of osmund, which have not yet had time to turn around properly, are cut and boiled in salted water - with their addition, they prepare excellent salads.
Osmund is also used in folk medicine - a decoction from its rhizomes perfectly helps to cope with stomach disorders, rickets and all kinds of pulmonary ailments.
Growing and caring
Osmunda will feel best in semi-shaded and swampy wet areas with peat soils. It is perfectly acceptable to plant it in shady areas, and if the soil is very well moistened, you can try to grow osmunda even in well-lit corners of the garden.
When preparing the soil for planting osmunda, it is necessary to add sand, humus and peat to it. And, of course, the osmund needs to be well watered throughout the season - this is especially important when establishing dry weather.
Despite the fact that osmunda can boast of a fairly good winter hardiness, it is still advisable to shelter it for the winter.
Reproduction of osmunda occurs by spores or by dividing the bushes. Under natural conditions, the spores usually dissipate on their own, giving birth to new ferns, which are subsequently carefully transplanted to new permanent places. And when planting osmunda, it is extremely important to maintain a distance of one hundred fifty to one hundred seventy centimeters between plants.
