maidenhair

/ˌmeɪdnˈhɛər/

Other forms: maidenhairs

Definitions of maidenhair

1. noun

   any of various small to large terrestrial ferns of the genus Adiantum having delicate palmately branched fronds
   synonyms: maidenhair fern

   types:

   Adiantum capillus-veneris, Venus maidenhair, Venus'-hair fern, Venushair, common maidenhair, southern maidenhair

   delicate maidenhair fern with slender shining black leaf stalks; cosmopolitan

   Adiantum pedatum, American maidenhair fern, five-fingered maidenhair fern

   hardy palmately branched North American fern with divergent recurved branches borne on lustrous dark reddish stipes

   Adiantum bellum, Bermuda maidenhair, Bermuda maidenhair fern

   delicate endemic Bermudian fern with creeping rootstock

   Adiantum tenerum, brittle maidenhair, brittle maidenhair fern

   tropical American fern with broad pinnae; widely cultivated

   Adiantum tenerum farleyense, Barbados maidenhair, Farley maidenhair, Farley maidenhair fern, glory fern

   named for a country house in Barbados where it was discovered

   type of:

   fern

   any of numerous flowerless and seedless vascular plants having true roots from a rhizome and fronds that uncurl upward; reproduce by spores