chain fern

noun

1. any of several ferns of the genus Woodwardia, having a chainlike row of sori on either side of the midrib of each fertile leaflet.

Word History and Origins

Origin of chain fern¹

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70

Example Sentences

Sometimes called the "California Chain fern," this massive fern is native to California and the western U.S.

From Los Angeles Times

The net-veined species has some resemblance to the sensitive fern, but in the latter the spore cases are shut up in small pods formed by the contracting and rolling up of the lobes, whereas the chain fern bears its sori on the under side of long, narrow pinnæ.

From Project Gutenberg

We have waded repeatedly through a miry swamp in Melrose, Mass., where the wild calla flourishes along with the blueberry and other swamp bushes, and have found the chain fern in several shaded spots, but every frond was sterile.

From Project Gutenberg