| fern | any of numerous flowerless and seedless vascular plants having true roots from a rhizome and fronds that uncurl upward, reproduce by spores |
| fern ally | pteridophytes of other classes than Filicopsida |
| fern seed | the asexual spore of ferns that resembles dust, once thought to be seeds and to make the possessor invisible |
false sago
fern palm
Cycas circinalis | southeastern Indian cycad with palmlike foliage |
seed fern
pteridosperm | an extinct seed-producing fernlike plant of the order Cycadofilicales (or group Pteridospermae) |
sweet fern
Comptonia peregrina
Comptonia asplenifolia | deciduous shrub of eastern North America with sweet scented fernlike leaves and tiny white flowers |
tansy
golden buttons
scented fern Tanacetum vulgare | common perennial aromatic herb native to Eurasia having buttonlike yellow flower heads and bitter-tasting pinnate leaves sometimes used medicinally |
asparagus fern
Asparagus setaceous
Asparagus plumosus | a fernlike plant native to South Africa |
miniature fan palm
bamboo palm fern rhapis
Rhapis excelsa | small graceful palm with reedlike stems and leaf bases clothed with loose coarse fibers |
hemlock poison hemlock
poison parsley
California fern
Nebraska fern
winter fern
Conium maculatum | large branching biennial herb native to Eurasia and Africa and adventive in North America having large fernlike leaves and white flowers, usually found in damp habitats, all parts extremely poisonous |
filmy fern
film 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 |
hare's-foot bristle fern
Trichomanes boschianum | a variety of bristle fern |
Killarney fern
Trichomanes speciosum | large stout fern of extreme western Europe |
kidney fern
Trichomanes reniforme | large fern of New Zealand having kidney-shaped fronds |
flowering fern
osmund | any fern of the genus Osmunda: large ferns with creeping rhizomes, naked sporangia are on modified fronds that resemble flower clusters |
royal fern
royal osmund
king fern ditch fern
French bracken
Osmunda regalis | large deeply rooted fern of worldwide distribution with upright bipinnate compound tufted fronds |
interrupted fern
Osmunda clatonia | North American fern having tall erect pinnate fronds and a few sporogenous pinnae at or near the center of the fertile fronds |
cinnamon fern
fiddlehead fiddlehead fern
Osmunda cinnamonea | New World fern having woolly cinnamonolored spore-bearing fronds in early spring later surrounded by green fronds, the early uncurling fronds are edible |
crape fern Prince-of-Wales fern
Prince-of-Wales feather
Prince-of-Wales plume
Leptopteris superba
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 |
pine fern
Anemia adiantifolia | 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 |
creeping fern
Hartford fern
Lygodium palmatum | delicate fern of the eastern United States having a twining stem and palmately-lobed sterile fronds and forked fertile fronds |
climbing maidenhair
climbing maidenhair fern
snake fern
Lygodium microphyllum | tropical fern widespread in Old World, naturalized in Jamaica and Florida |
| scented fern Mohria caffrorum | sweetly scented African fern with narrow bipinnate fronds |
aquatic fern
water fern | ferns that grow in water |
clover fern
pepperwort | any of several water ferns of the genus Marsilea having four leaflets |
mosquito fern
floating fern
Carolina pond fern
Azolla caroliniana | small free-floating aquatic fern from the eastern United States to tropical America, naturalized in western and southern Europe |
adder's tongue
adder's tongue fern | ferns with fertile spikes shaped like a snake's tongue |
| ribbon fern Ophioglossum pendulum | epiphytic fern with straplike usually twisted fronds of tropical Asia and Polynesia and America |
| grape fern | a fern of the genus Botrychium having a fertile frond bearing small grapelike clusters of spore cases |
daisyleaf grape fern
daisy-leaved grape fern
Botrychium matricariifolium | of North America and Eurasia |
leathery grape fern
Botrychium multifidum | European fern with leathery and sparsely hairy fronds |
rattlesnake fern
Botrychium virginianum | American fern whose clustered sporangia resemble a snake's rattle |
| flowering fern Helminthostachys zeylanica | Australasian fern with clusters of sporangia on stems of fertile fronds |
| fern family | families of ferns and fern allies |
| fern genus | genera of ferns and fern allies |
giant scrambling fern
Diplopterygium longissimum | large scrambling fern forming large patches to feet high, Pacific region and China |
umbrella fern
fan fern
Sticherus flabellatus
Gleichenia flabellata | large Australasian fern with fanlike repeatedly forked fronds, sometimes placed in genus Gleichenia |
floating fern water sprite
Ceratopteris pteridioides | aquatic fern of tropical America often used in aquariums |
| floating fern Ceratopteris thalictroides | pantropical aquatic fern |
licorice fern
Polypodium glycyrrhiza | fern having rootstock of a sweetish flavor |
grey polypody
gray polypody
resurrection fern
Polypodium polypodioides | fern growing on rocks or tree trunks and having fronds greyish and scurfy below, Americas and South Africa |
rock polypody
rock brake American wall fern
Polypodium virgianum | chiefly lithophytic or epiphytic fern of North America and east Asia |
common polypody
adder's fern
wall fern
golden maidenhair
golden polypody sweet fern Polypodium vulgare | mat-forming lithophytic or terrestrial fern with creeping rootstocks and large pinnatifid fronds found throughout North America and Europe and Africa and east Asia |
bear's-paw fern
Aglaomorpha meyeniana | epiphytic fern with large fronds, Taiwan and Philippines |
| strap fern | fern with long narrow strap-shaped leaves |
Florida strap fern
cow-tongue fern
hart's-tongue fern | common epiphytic or sometimes terrestrial fern having pale yellow-green strap-shaped leaves, Florida to West Indies and Mexico and south to Uruguay |