sweet fern

/swit fərn/

Other forms: sweet ferns

Definitions of sweet fern

1. noun

   mat-forming lithophytic or terrestrial fern with creeping rootstocks and large pinnatifid fronds found throughout North America and Europe and Africa and east Asia
   synonyms: Polypodium vulgare, adder's fern, common polypody, golden maidenhair, golden polypody, wall fern

   type of:

   polypody

   any of numerous ferns of the genus Polypodium
2. noun

   deciduous shrub of eastern North America with sweet scented fernlike leaves and tiny white flowers
   synonyms: Comptonia asplenifolia, Comptonia peregrina

   type of:

   bush, shrub

   a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems