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Webster 1913 Edition


maidenhair fern

maid′en-hairˊ

,

maidenhair fern

,
Noun.
(Bot.)
Any of various small to large terrestrial ferns of the genus
Adiantum
having very slender graceful stalks and delicate palmately branched fronds, especially (
Adiantum pedatum
). It is common in the United States, and is sometimes used in medicine. The name is also applied to other species of the same genus, as to the Venus-hair.