Wardian case

American  

[wawr-dee-uhn] / ˈwɔr di ən /

noun

1. a type of terrarium having a top and sides of glass.

2. a case used for transporting plants, having wood sides and a glass top protected by wood slats.

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wardian case British  

/ ˈwɔːdɪən /

noun

1. a type of glass container used for housing delicate ferns and similar plants

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Etymology

Origin of Wardian case

1835–45; named after Nathaniel B. Ward (1791–1868), English botanist; see -ian

Example Sentences

First is the Wardian case, invented around 1830 by Dr. Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward, a medical doctor and amateur.

From New York Times • Feb. 25, 2016

A forerunner of the terrarium, the Wardian case was a miniature greenhouse, the size of a large toolbox, that protected specimens during the long and perilous sea voyages back to home base.

From New York Times • Feb. 25, 2016

The gnome, cunningly sitting inside a kind of mini-indoor greenhouse called a Wardian case, can usually be found on the estate, by the clock tower.

From New York Times • May 20, 2013

At any rate, you cannot find a more interesting inmate of your Wardian case than some large geometrical spider.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 18, No. 106, August, 1866 by Various

Then his eyes strayed over the polished floor and the dull-hued rugs, over ebony and ivory cabinets and stiff-backed chairs, to be fixed, finally, by a huge Wardian case.

From The Junior Classics — Volume 8 Animal and Nature Stories by Patten, William