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

Sword ferns, five-fingered ferns, lady ferns, chain ferns, deer ferns — they all mingle here, along with northern red-legged frogs, Pacific giant salamanders and sometimes Roosevelt elk.

From Los Angeles Times

Ghost is a selection from the suburban Richmond garden of the late Nancy Sweet and is probably a natural hybrid of the Japanese painted fern and the European lady fern.

From Washington Post

We walked carefully down the channel, trying not to step on the lady ferns and tiarellas flourishing in the damp soil, the dark green leaves of elderberry and viburnums brushing our faces.

From New York Times

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

From Literature

The activism of a local Staten Island group called Protectors of Pine Oak Woods helped preserve the ancient oaks, trout lilies and lady ferns that have been our companions the past 13 weeks.

From New York Times