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Background  The classification of royal ferns (Osmundaceae) has long remained controversial. Recent molecular phylogenies indicate that  Osmunda  is paraphyletic and needs to be separated into  Osmundastrum  and  Osmunda s.str.  Here, however, we describe an exquisitely preserved Jurassic  Osmunda  rhizome ( O. pulchella  sp. nov.) that combines diagnostic features of both  Osmundastrum  and  Osmunda , calling molecular evidence for paraphyly into question. We assembled a new morphological matrix based on rhizome anatomy, and used network analyses to establish phylogenetic relationships between fossil and extant members of modern Osmundaceae. We re-analysed the original molecular data to evaluate root-placement support. Finally, we integrated morphological and molecular data-sets using the evolutionary placement algorithm.    Results   Osmunda pulchella  and five additional Jurassic rhizome species show anatomical character suites intermediate between  Osmundastrum  and  Osmunda.  Molecular evidence for paraphyly is ambiguous: a previously unrecognized signal from spacer sequences favours an alternative root placement that would resolve  Osmunda s.l.  as monophyletic. Our evolutionary placement analysis identifies fossil species as probable ancestral members of modern genera and subgenera, which accords with recent evidence from Bayesian dating.    Conclusions   Osmunda pulchella  is likely a precursor of the  Osmundastrum  lineage. The recently proposed root placement in Osmundaceae—based solely on molecular data—stems from possibly misinformative outgroup signals in  rbc L and  atp A genes. We conclude that the seemingly conflicting evidence from morphological, anatomical, molecular, and palaeontological data can instead be elegantly reconciled under the assumption that  Osmunda  is indeed monophyletic.    Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12862-015-0400-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Osmunda pulchella sp. nov. from the Jurassic of Sweden—reconciling molecular and fossil evidence in the phylogeny of modern royal ferns (Osmundaceae)