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

The etheral extract of male fern in two dram doses may be given; fast, and follow in the course of a couple of hours by a brisk purgative; that is, calomel followed by salts.

From Mother's Remedies Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remedies from Mothers of the United States and Canada by Ritter, Thomas Jefferson

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

He left the male fern and mullein until the last for different reasons.

From The Harvester by Stratton-Porter, Gene

One of these is the cut-leaf black walnut which has the ordinary compound leaf but whose individual leaflets are so scalloped and serrated that they resemble a male fern.

From Growing Nuts in the North A Personal Story of the Author's Experience of 33 Years with Nut Culture in Minnesota and Wisconsin by Weschcke, Carl

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

From Thaumaturgia by Oxonian, An