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 boys exchanged glances, and Josh stole out one hand, pulled a hart’s-tongue fern up by the roots, and, with admirable aim, pitched it so that it fell right on the sleeper’s chest.

From Will of the Mill by Fenn, George Manville

The sound of running water and the brilliant green of the grass, as well as the masses of long hart's-tongue ferns falling abundantly from the churchyard wall, all tell of perpetual moisture.

From Cornwall by Mitton, G. E. (Geraldine Edith)

Green thorn bushes filled the chinks and made a wall to the well, and the long narrow hart's-tongue streaked the face of the cliff.

From The Life of the Fields by Jefferies, Richard

The wagonette swung round into a side road, and we curved upward through deep lanes worn by centuries of wheels, high banks on either side, heavy with dripping moss and fleshy hart's-tongue ferns.

From The Hound of the Baskervilles by Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir

We discovered a stream in a wood with hart's-tongue fern growing along its banks.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 159, August 11, 1920 by Seaman, Owen, Sir