Osmunda regalis

I've walked over these commons for decades and never noticed this plant before. Its Osmunda regalis, the Royal Fern. The largest native fern in Britain it was driven to the brink of extinction by Victorian fern collectors and is now very rare but I'm delighted that we have one here growing in one of the old first world war practice trenches. The birch and gorse that had obscured many of the trenches has recently been cleared away and I guess that's why I'd never seen this most unusual fern before.  I may try to collect some spores next summer and see if we can propagate some more.

Back blips from Hong Kong are now all uploaded.