View source for Cinnamon fern

{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Osmunda cinnamomea''
| image = Cinnamon Fern Osmunda cinnamomea Plant 2000px.JPG
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = Sterile fronds in late summer
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Pteridophyta]]
| classis = [[Osmundopsida]]
| ordo = [[Osmundales]]
| familia = [[Osmundaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Osmunda]]''
| species = '''''O. cinnamomea'''''
| binomial = ''Osmunda cinnamomea''
| binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
}}

'''''Cinnamon Fern''''', also known as '''Osmunda cinnamomea''', is a species of [[fern]] in the genus ''[[Osmunda]]''. It is native to the [[Americas]] and eastern [[Asia]], growing in moist woodlands.

[[Image:Cinnamon Fern Osmunda cinnamomea Closeup 3008px.JPG|left|thumb|Close-up of the pinnae of a sterile frond]]
In [[North America]] it occurs from southern [[Labrador]] west to [[Ontario]], and south through the [[Eastern United States|eastern]] [[United States]] to eastern [[Mexico]] and the [[West Indies]]; in [[South America]] it occurs west to [[Peru]] and south to [[Paraguay]]. In Asia it occurs from southeastern [[Siberia]] south through [[Japan]], [[Korea]], [[China]] and [[Taiwan]] to [[Myanmar]], [[Thailand]] and [[Vietnam]].

It is a [[deciduous]] [[herbaceous]] plant which produces separate fertile and sterile [[frond]]s. The sterile fronds are spreading, 30-150 cm tall and 15-20 cm broad, pinnate, with pinnae 5-10 cm long and 2-2.5 cm broad, deeply lobed (so the fronds are nearly, but not quite, bipinnate). The fertile [[spore]]-bearing fronds are erect and shorter, 20-45 cm tall; they become [[cinnamon]]-colored, which gives the species its name. The fertile leaves appear first; their green color slowly becomes brown as the season progresses and the spores are dropped. The spore-bearing stems persist after the sterile fronds are killed by frost, until the next season. The spores must develop within a few weeks or fail.

[[Image:cinnamon_fern.jpg|thumb|A large cinnamon fern outcropping.]]

==References and external links==
*[http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?402103 Germplasm Resources Information Network: ''Osmunda cinnamomea'']
*{{ITIS | ID = 17219 | taxon = Osmunda cinnamomea | year = 2006 | date = September 25 }}
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=200002992 Flora of North America: ''Osmunda cinnamomea'']
*[http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=5109&flora_id=1 Flora of N.Amer-RangeMap: ''Osmunda cinnamomea'']
*[http://tai2.ntu.edu.tw/udth/bin/fot1.exe/browse?bid=1&page=82 Flora of Taiwan: ''Osmunda cinnamomea'']
*[http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=OSCI  USDA database information] 
*[http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/ferns/osmundacinn.html  Description/picture]

[[Category:Pteridophyta]]
[[Category:Flora of Eastern United States]]
[[Category:Flora of Eastern Canada]]