SWORD FERN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sword fern mean? 

• SWORD FERN (noun)
  The noun SWORD FERN has 1 sense:

1. any of several tropical ferns having more or less sword-shaped fronds including one from which the Boston fern developed

  Familiarity information: SWORD FERN used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SWORD FERN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of several tropical ferns having more or less sword-shaped fronds including one from which the Boston fern developed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("sword fern" is a kind of...):

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

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sword fern"):

Boston fern; Nephrolepis exaltata; Nephrolepis exaltata bostoniensis (a sword fern with arching or drooping pinnate fronds; a popular houseplant)

basket fern; Nephrolepis pectinata; toothed sword fern (tropical American fern cultivated for its finely divided greyish-green foliage; West Indies and southern Mexico to Peru and Brazil)

Holonyms ("sword fern" is a member of...):

genus Nephrolepis; Nephrolepis (small genus of tropical ferns; sometimes placed in Polypodiaceae)