Some ferns are at their best as the Autumn sun shines through the colouring fronds. This Royal Fern looks bright and cheerful despite the overcast sky and the semi-shaded position. That may be due to the wet streamside location where it can grow to 4 feet tall.
Other members of the Osmunda family include Osmunda cinnamomea cinnamon fern and Osmunda claytoniana the interrupted fern.

The fronds of ferns can be either fertile or sterile and usually grow side by side from the same plant. On the underside of fertile fronds small brown dots or ‘Sori’ contain spores from which ferns reproduce. Osmunda can also propagate via root division.

For Hart’s Tongue evergreen ferns  see