male fern

American  

noun

1. a bright-green fern, Dryopteris filix-mas, of Europe and northeastern North America.

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male fern British  

noun

1. a fern, Dryopteris filix-mas, having scaly stalks and pinnate fronds with kidney-shaped spore-producing bodies on the underside: family Polypodiaceae

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Etymology

Origin of male fern

First recorded in 1555–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

male fern

They are cowhage, scammony, male fern root, calomel, gamboge, tin, and turpentine.

From Enquire Within Upon Everything The Great Victorian Domestic Standby by Anonymous

The liquid extract of male fern is the only drug used with much success.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 7 "Bible" to "Bisectrix" by Various

The root of the male fern, a nostrum for the cure of the tape worm, was secretly retailed by Madame Noufleur.

From Thaumaturgia by An Oxonian

Now, only a week before Christmas, the male fern is still in handsome green masses; Blechnum is still good, and common Polypody at its best.

From Wood and Garden Notes and thoughts, practical and critical, of a working amateur by Gertrude Jekyll

Powdered male fern, a quarter of an ounce.

From The American Reformed Cattle Doctor by George Dadd