6. INTERRUPTED FERN
Osmunda Claytoniana
Newfoundland to North Carolina, in swampy places. Two to four feet high.
Sterile fronds.—Oblong-lanceolate, once-pinnate, pinnæ cut into oblong, obtuse divisions, without a tuft of wool at the base of each pinna.
Fertile fronds.—Taller than the sterile, leaf-like above and below, some of the middle pinnæ fruit-bearing.
The Interrupted Fern makes its appearance in the woods and meadows and along the roadsides in May. It fruits as it unfolds.
At first the fruiting pinnæ are almost black. Later they become golden-green, and after the spores are discharged they turn brown. They are noticeable all summer, and serve to identify the plant at once.
In the absence of the fertile fronds it is often difficult to distinguish between the Cinnamon Fern and the Interrupted Fern.
The sterile fronds of the Interrupted Fern are usually less erect, curving outward much more noticeably than those of the Cinnamon Fern. Then, too, its pinnæ are cut into segments that are more obtuse, and the whole effect of the frond is more stubby.