Cinnamon Fern (Osmunda cinnamomea)

2/24/2012
Got a chance to explore a small park this afternoon. My original intention was to find some mushrooms and of course, as you will see, I did. But I also ran into some other species that interested me. For instance, there was this large, beautiful fern growing all over on the sides of the path. I took a picture of it and a leaf to sample and I intend to discover what type of fern it is.

What was interesting about the fern was that it did not have spore pods on the bottom of it's fronds.
Found it, not that difficult.  It's called a cinnamon fern, also known as Osmunda cinnamomea
Apparently I found it in the wrong season, when it's spore stalks were not present
Hopefully I'll get a chance to see them later in the year, in full 'bloom'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmunda_cinnamomea
http://www.floridata.com/ref/o/osmu_cin.cfm

http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/9136684

Tuber Sword Fern (Nephrolepis Cordifolia)

Okay so I dug up a common fern and found it had fuzzy grape like nodules on it's roots. I was curious as to if they were edible. Let the identifying begin!
So I'm 95% positive that it is a Nephrolepis exalta. Also known as sword fern
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephrolepis_exaltata

On second glance however I found a very similar, almost identical fern called Nephrolepis cordifolia.
it is known as the tuber sword fern. Yes. I was previously incorrect, this is the right one.
http://www.fleppc.org/ID_book/Nephrolepsis_cordifolia.pdf
the site claims that N. exalta NEVER bears tubers on it's roots. I guess that settles it then. It's definately N cordifolia.

another interesting thing, I found in many different sources that the tubers are edible and natives in nepal eat them regularly.

Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/embed/8e0CtNta_2Q

^^ dig up, remove hairs, EAT!

http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/9099074