hart's-tongue

American  

[hahrts-tuhng] / ˈhɑrtsˌtʌŋ /

Or harts-tongue

noun

1. a fern, Phyllitis scolopendrium, having long, leathery, wavy-edged leaves.

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hart's-tongue British  

noun

1. an evergreen Eurasian fern, Asplenium scolopendrium, with narrow undivided fronds bearing rows of sori: family Polypodiaceae

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Etymology

Origin of hart's-tongue

First recorded in 1275–1325, hart's-tongue is from Middle English hertis tonge. See hart, 's ¹, tongue

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hart's-tongue

The hart's-tongue ferns, matted all over the steep banks, hang down like the tongues of thirsty dogs.

From Carette of Sark by John Oxenham

But Sandy McCray was a cautious man, and before he had gone many yards he had stooped to dig up half-a-dozen hart’s-tongue ferns, which he placed, with a fair quantity of leaf-mould, in his basket.

From The Sapphire Cross by George Manville Fenn

There is much of the common bracken fern and hart's-tongue.

From The Last Journals of David Livingstone, in Central Africa, from 1865 to His Death, Volume II (of 2), 1869-1873 Continued By A Narrative Of His Last Moments And Sufferings, Obtained From His Faithful Servants Chuma And Susi by Horace Waller

Upon the banks hart's-tongue was coming up fresh and green, and the early orchis was in flower.

From Field and Hedgerow Being the Last Essays of Richard Jefferies by Richard Jefferies

It was covered with moss, and in the shadow underneath it the hart's-tongue fern was growing.

From Wood Magic A Fable by Richard Jefferies