Osmunda regalis

A fern of stature and quiet nobility, growing where the woods remember water and time moves slow.

Among the native plants of the Eastern forest, few possess the majestic bearing of Osmunda regalis, rightly called the Royal Fern. Found along shaded streambanks, swamp edges, and the moist, humus-rich soils of old hardwood woods, this is a plant not of flash, but of dignity—a presence that calls to mind the long hush beneath cypress knees and tupelo shade.

This native fern, which ranges from Nova Scotia to Florida, carries itself differently than its lacy cousins. Its coarse, twice-pinnate fronds are made up of broad, softly rounded leaflets that look more like the fronds of a woodland locust than the finely filigreed ferns of garden beds. Yet there is great beauty here—an unpretentious, statuesque grace—as if it were a relic from an older flora, unbothered by trend or trim.

Reaching 4 to 6 feet tall, and even taller where truly content, Royal Fern stands among the largest and most robust of all North American herbaceous plants. Alan Armitage once said of it: "Where they are happy, they are some of the biggest, most robust plants around—not just in the fern family, but in all herbaceous plants." And happy it will be, in a garden that offers it what it loves best: dappled light, damp feet, and soil that smells of leaf mold and memory.

Native Range: Eastern North America; also found in parts of Europe and Asia
Foliage: Deciduous; coarse, broad, bipinnate fronds
Notable Traits: Large native fern, deer-resistant, bold texture, long-lived
Garden Uses: Woodland gardens, wetland edges, shady rain gardens, native plantings