oak fern

noun

bright blue-green fern widely distributed especially in damp acid woodlands of temperate northern hemisphere

• Syn: ↑Gymnocarpium dryopteris, ↑Thelypteris dryopteris

• Hypernyms: ↑fern

• Member Holonyms: ↑Gymnocarpium, ↑genus Gymnocarpium

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noun

Etymology: translation of Latin dryopteris

: a widely distributed fern (Thelypteris dryopteris) of the family Polypodiaceae chiefly of damp acid woodlands of boreal and alpine parts of the northern hemisphere that has a slender subterraneous rhizome and delicate solitary triangular fronds

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a small woodland fern, Gymnocarpium dryopteris, of northern regions, having triangular, pinnate fronds that slant horizontally.

[1540-50; trans. of L dryopteris < Gk dryopterís, equiv. to dryo- (comb. form of drys oak) + ptéris fern]

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oak fern noun

A fern (Thelypteris dryopteris) of the polypody family (translation of Gr dryopteris, a name perh given to ferns growing on oak trees, transferred by Linnaeus to this species)

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Main Entry: ↑oak

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n. a delicate fern of woods and damp places in the uplands of northern Eurasia and North America. ● Genus Gymnocarpium (formerly Thelypteris), family Woodsiaceae: two species, in particular G. dryopteris