flowering fern

2 definitions found

flowering fern - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Flowering \Flow"er*ing\, a. (Bot.)
     Having conspicuous flowers; -- used as an epithet with many
     names of plants; as, flowering ash; flowering dogwood;
     flowering almond, etc.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Flowering fern, a genus of showy ferns (Osmunda), with
        conspicuous bivalvular sporangia. They usually grow in wet
        places.
  
     Flowering plants, plants which have stamens and pistils,
        and produce true seeds; phenogamous plants; --
        distinguished from flowerless plants.
  
     Flowering rush, a European rushlike plant (Butomus  umbellatus
        ), with an umbel of rosy blossoms.
        [1913 Webster]

flowering fern - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  flowering fern
      n 1: Australasian fern with clusters of sporangia on stems of
           fertile fronds [syn: flowering fern, Helminthostachys zeylanica
           ]
      2: any fern of the genus Osmunda: large ferns with creeping
         rhizomes; naked sporangia are on modified fronds that
         resemble flower clusters [syn: flowering fern, osmund]