fern

1. Any of numerous flowerless and seedless vascular plants having true roots from a rhizome and fronds that uncurl upward;
   Reproduce by spores (synset 111566165)
   is a type of: nonflowering plant, pteridophyte - plants having vascular tissue and reproducing by spores
   subtypes:

   • pecopteris - Carboniferous fossil fern characterized by a regular arrangement of the leaflets resembling a comb
   • film fern, filmy fern - any fern of the genus Hymenophyllum growing in tropical humid regions and having translucent leaves
   • bristle fern, filmy fern - any fern of the genus Trichomanes having large pinnatifid often translucent fronds; most are epiphytic on tree branches and twigs or terrestrial on mossy banks
   • flowering fern, osmund - any fern of the genus Osmunda: large ferns with creeping rhizomes; naked sporangia are on modified fronds that resemble flower clusters
   • crape fern, leptopteris superba, prince-of-wales feather, prince-of-wales fern, prince-of-wales plume, todea superba - New Zealand with pinnate fronds and a densely woolly stalks; sometimes included in genus Todea
   • crepe fern, king fern, todea barbara - fern of rain forests of tropical Australia and New Zealand and South Africa
   • curly grass, curly grass fern, schizaea pusilla - rare small fern of northeastern North America having numerous slender spiraling fronds and forming dense tufts
   • anemia adiantifolia, pine fern - fern of Florida and West Indies and Central America with rhizome densely clad in grown hairs
   • climbing fern - any of several ferns of the genus Lygodium that climb by twining
   • mohria caffrorum, scented fern - sweetly scented African fern with narrow bipinnate fronds
   • aquatic fern, water fern - ferns that grow in water
   • adder's tongue, adder's tongue fern - ferns with fertile spikes shaped like a snake's tongue
   • grape fern - a fern of the genus Botrychium having a fertile frond bearing small grapelike clusters of spore cases
   • flowering fern, helminthostachys zeylanica - Australasian fern with clusters of sporangia on stems of fertile fronds
   • diplopterygium longissimum, giant scrambling fern - large scrambling fern forming large patches to 18 feet high; Pacific region and China
   • fan fern, gleichenia flabellata, sticherus flabellatus, umbrella fern - large Australasian fern with fanlike repeatedly forked fronds; sometimes placed in genus Gleichenia
   • polypody - any of numerous ferns of the genus Polypodium
   • aglaomorpha meyeniana, bear's-paw fern - epiphytic fern with large fronds; Taiwan and Philippines
   • strap fern - fern with long narrow strap-shaped leaves
   • basket fern, drynaria rigidula - giant epiphytic or lithophytic fern; Asia to Polynesia and Australia
   • lecanopteris - any of several bizarre ferns of the genus Lecanopteris having swollen hollow rhizomes that provide homes for symbiotic ants
   • microgramma-piloselloides, snake polypody - epiphytic ferns with long rhizomes; tropical America
   • climbing bird's nest fern, microsorium punctatum - tropical Africa to Australasia and Polynesia
   • golden polypody, phlebodium aureum, polypodium aureum, rabbit's-foot fern, serpent fern - tropical American fern with brown scaly rhizomes cultivated for its large deeply lobed deep bluish-green fronds; sometimes placed in genus Polypodium
   • staghorn fern - any of various tropical ferns of the genus Platycerium having large flat lobed fronds often resembling the antlers of a stag
   • cyclophorus lingua, felt fern, pyrrosia lingua, tongue fern - east Asian fern having fronds shaped like tongues; sometimes placed in genus Cyclophorus
   • potato fern, solanopteris bifrons - small epiphytic fern of South America with tuberous swellings along rhizomes
   • grass fern, ribbon fern, vittaria lineata - epiphytic fern found in lowland forests of tropical America
   • spleenwort - any of various chiefly rock-inhabiting ferns of the genus Asplenium
   • asplenium nidus, bird's nest fern - tropical Old World or Australian epiphytic fern frequently forming tufts in tree crotches
   • asplenium scolopendrium, hart's-tongue, hart's-tongue fern, phyllitis scolopendrium - Eurasian fern with simple lanceolate fronds
   • asplenium ceterach, ceterach officinarum, scale fern, scaly fern - small European fern with chaffy leathery fronds
   • asplenium nigripes, schaffneria nigripes, scolopendrium nigripes - a fern of the genus Schaffneria
   • scolopendrium - a fern thought to resemble a millipede
   • hard fern - any of several ferns of the genus Blechnum
   • doodia, rasp fern - any fern of the genus Doodia having pinnate fronds with sharply dentate pinnae
   • chain fern - a fern of the genus Woodwardia having the sori in chainlike rows
   • tree fern - any of numerous usually tropical ferns having a thick woody stem or caudex and a crown of large fronds; found especially in Australia and New Zealand; chiefly of the families Cyatheaceae and Marattiaceae but some from Polypodiaceae
   • davallia - any fern of the genus Davallia; having scaly creeping rhizomes
   • boulder fern, dennstaedtia punctilobula, hay-scented, hay-scented fern, scented fern - fern of eastern North America with pale green fronds and an aroma like hay
   • bracken, brake, pasture brake, pteridium aquilinum - large coarse fern often several feet high; essentially weed ferns; cosmopolitan
   • bracken, pteridium esculentum - fern of southeastern Asia; not hardy in cold temperate regions
   • culcita dubia, false bracken - resembles Pteridium aquilinum; of Queensland, Australia
   • buckler fern, shield fern - any of various ferns of the genera Dryopteris or Polystichum or Lastreopsis having somewhat shield-shaped coverings on the sori
   • wood fern, wood-fern, woodfern - any of various ferns of the genus Dryopteris
   • athyrium filix-femina, lady fern - most widely grown fern of the genus Athyrium for its delicate foliage
   • athyrium pycnocarpon, diplazium pycnocarpon, glade fern, narrow-leaved spleenwort, silvery spleenwort - North American fern with narrow fronds on yellowish leafstalks
   • cyrtomium aculeatum, holly fern, polystichum aculeatum - tropical Old World fern having glossy fronds suggestive of holly; sometimes placed in genus Polystichum
   • bladder fern - any fern of the genus Cystopteris characterized by a hooded indusium or bladderlike membrane covering the sori
   • athyrium thelypteroides, deparia acrostichoides, silvery spleenwort - fern with elongate silvery outgrowths enclosing the developing spores
   • gymnocarpium dryopteris, oak fern, thelypteris dryopteris - bright blue-green fern widely distributed especially in damp acid woodlands of temperate northern hemisphere
   • gymnocarpium robertianum, limestone fern, northern oak fern - yellow-green fern of rocky areas of northern hemisphere
   • fiddlehead, matteuccia struthiopteris, onoclea struthiopteris, ostrich fern, pteretis struthiopteris, shuttlecock fern - tall fern of northern temperate regions having graceful arched fronds and sporophylls resembling ostrich plumes
   • hart's-tongue, hart's-tongue fern, olfersia cervina, polybotria cervina, polybotrya cervina - tropical American terrestrial fern with leathery lanceolate fronds; sometimes placed in genus Polybotrya
   • bead fern, onoclea sensibilis, sensitive fern - beautiful spreading fern of eastern North America and eastern Asia naturalized in western Europe; pinnately divided fronds show a slight tendency to fold when touched; pinnules enclose groups of sori in beadlike lobes
   • canker brake, christmas fern, dagger fern, evergreen wood fern, polystichum acrostichoides - North American evergreen fern having pinnate leaves and dense clusters of lance-shaped fronds
   • holly fern - any of various ferns of the genus Polystichum having fronds with texture and gloss like holly
   • leather fern, leatherleaf fern, polystichum adiantiformis, rumohra adiantiformis, ten-day fern - widely distributed fern of tropical southern hemisphere having leathery pinnatifid fronds
   • button fern, tectaria cicutaria - Jamaican fern having round buttonlike bulbils
   • indian button fern, tectaria macrodonta - fern of tropical Asia having round buttonlike bulbils
   • woodsia - any fern of the genus Woodsia
   • oleander fern, oleandra mollis, oleandra neriiformis - tropical fern having leathery fronds resembling oleander; found from Asia to Polynesia
   • sword fern - any of several tropical ferns having more or less sword-shaped fronds including one from which the Boston fern developed
   • acrostichum aureum, golden fern, leather fern - stout tropical swamp fern (especially tropical America) having large fronds with golden yellow sporangia covering the undersides
   • maidenhair, maidenhair fern - any of various small to large terrestrial ferns of the genus Adiantum having delicate palmately branched fronds
   • annual fern, anogramma leptophylla, jersey fern - small short-lived fern of Central and South America
   • lip fern, lipfern - any of various terrestrial ferns of the genus Cheilanthes; cosmopolitan in arid and semiarid temperate or tropical regions
   • cheilanthes gracillima, lace fern - small tufted fern of northwestern America
   • bamboo fern, coniogramme japonica - fast-growing sturdy Japanese fern; cultivated for their attractive broad dark-green pinnate fronds
   • rock brake - dwarf deciduous lithophytic ferns
   • doryopteris pedata, hand fern - tropical American fern with coarsely lobed to palmatifid fronds
   • cliff brake, cliff-brake, rock brake - any of several small lithophytic ferns of tropical and warm temperate regions
   • button fern, pellaea rotundifolia - fern of New Zealand and Australia having trailing fronds with dark green buttonlike leaflets
   • pityrogramma argentea, silver fern - fern of southern tropical Africa having fronds with white undersides
   • pityrogramma calomelanos, silver fern - tropical American fern having fronds with white undersides
   • golden fern, pityrogramma calomelanos aureoflava - tropical American fern having fronds with light golden undersides
   • gold fern, pityrogramma chrysophylla - fern of West Indies and South America having fronds with bright golden-yellow undersides
   • brake - any of various ferns of the genus Pteris having pinnately compound leaves and including several popular houseplants
   • pteris cretica - cultivated in many varieties as houseplants
   • pteris multifida, spider brake, spider fern - Asiatic fern introduced in America
   • pteris serrulata, ribbon fern, spider fern - fern of North Africa and Azores and Canary Islands
   • marattia salicina, potato fern - large Australasian evergreen fern with an edible rhizome sometimes used as a vegetable by indigenous people
   • dryopteris thelypteris, marsh fern, thelypteris palustris - fern having pinnatifid fronds and growing in wet places; cosmopolitan in north temperate regions
   • christella - any of several tropical ferns of the genus Christella having thin brittle fronds
   • dryopteris oreopteris, mountain fern, oreopteris limbosperma - common European mountain fern having fragrant lemon or balsam scented fronds
   • dryopteris noveboracensis, new york fern, parathelypteris novae-boracensis - slender shield fern of moist woods of eastern North America; sometimes placed in genus Dryopteris
   • massachusetts fern, parathelypteris simulata, thelypteris simulata - delicate feathery shield fern of the eastern United States; sometimes placed in genus Thelypteris
   • beech fern - any fern of the genus Phegopteris having deeply cut triangular fronds
   belongs to: class filicinae, class filicopsida, filicinae, filicopsida - ferns
   has: fern seed - the asexual spore of ferns that resembles dust; once thought to be seeds and to make the possessor invisible

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