Royal Fern, Osmunda regalis
This fern has unusual looking fronds that can easily be mistaken for the leaves of a locust tree or a legume. It grows best in swamps and damp woods or meadows where it forms large, branching clusters. The fertile fronds are smaller and brown, and grow at the tips of the sterile fronds, earning this species the nickname "Flowering Fern." In the narrow strip of woods between Little Fresh Pond and the golf course clubhouse there is a healthy stand of Royal Ferns growing together with Sensitive, Cinnamon, and Interrupted Ferns, Equisetum, and Poison Ivy.