lady fern

American  

noun

1. a fern, Athyrium filix-femina, having delicate, feathery fronds.

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lady fern British  

noun

1. a large, graceful, but variable fern, Athyrium filix-femina, with bipinnate fronds, commonly found on damp acid soils in woods and on hillsides

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Example Sentences

Several species grow in our woods, including the ubiquitous sensitive fern, the unusual Goldie’s fern and the finely textured lady fern with its attractive reddish midstem.

From New York Times • May 24, 2012

She knew where lady fern grew and phantom orchids and warted giant puffballs.

From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson

And when she came to the lonesome glen, She kept beside the burn, And neither plucked the strawberry flower Nor broke the lady fern.

From Childhood's Favorites and Fairy Stories The Young Folks Treasury, Volume 1 by Hale, Edward Everett

Nightshade flourished on the threshold, death lilies by the hearth, dianthus and lady fern.

From Japanese Fairy Tales by James, Grace

Nearly all agree that the lady fern, with its variously curved sori, should be placed here, and many others would place the silvery spleenwort in the same genus, partly because of its frequently doubled sori.

From The Fern Lover's Companion A Guide for the Northeastern States and Canada by Tilton, George Henry