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

The lady fern has inspired several poems, which have been quoted more or less fully in the fern books.

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

But whatever changes may occur in the scientific name of the old Athýrium fìlix-fémina, the name lady fern will not change, but everywhere within our limits it will hold its own as a familiar term.

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

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