sword fern

/sɔərd fərn/
IPA guide

Other forms: sword ferns

Definitions of sword fern
  1. noun
    any of several tropical ferns having more or less sword-shaped fronds including one from which the Boston fern developed
    see moresee less
    types:
    Boston fern, Nephrolepis exaltata, Nephrolepis exaltata bostoniensis
    a sword fern with arching or drooping pinnate fronds; a popular houseplant
    Nephrolepis pectinata, basket fern, toothed sword fern
    tropical American fern cultivated for its finely divided greyish-green foliage; West Indies and southern Mexico to Peru and Brazil
    type of:
    fern
    any of numerous flowerless and seedless vascular plants having true roots from a rhizome and fronds that uncurl upward; reproduce by spores
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