male fern

American  

noun

1. a bright-green fern, Dryopteris filix-mas, of Europe and northeastern North America.

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male fern British  

noun

1. a fern, Dryopteris filix-mas, having scaly stalks and pinnate fronds with kidney-shaped spore-producing bodies on the underside: family Polypodiaceae

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Etymology

Origin of male fern

First recorded in 1555–65

Example Sentences

Infusion of cusco is sometimes used as an anthelmintic, so is wormwood, and the liquid extract of male fern, and in America spigelia root and pumpkin seeds.

From Dogs and All about Them by Leighton, Robert

He left the male fern and mullein until the last for different reasons.

From The Harvester by Stratton-Porter, Gene

The liquid extract of male fern is the only drug used with much success.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 7 "Bible" to "Bisectrix" by Various

The root of the male fern, a nostrum for the cure of the tape worm, was secretly retailed by Madame Noufleur.

From Thaumaturgia by Oxonian, An

The extract of male fern used should have a guaranteed strength of 22 to 25 per cent of filicine and 3.5 per cent of filicic acid.

From Special Report on Diseases of Cattle by United States. Bureau of Animal Industry