christmas fern
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Christmas \Christ"mas\, n. [Christ + mass.]
An annual church festival (December 25) and in some States a
legal holiday, in memory of the birth of Christ, often
celebrated by a particular church service, and also by
special gifts, greetings, and hospitality.
[1913 Webster]
{Christmas box}.
(a) A box in which presents are deposited at Christmas.
(b) A present or small gratuity given to young people and
servants at Christmas; a Christmas gift.
{Christmas carol}, a carol sung at, or suitable for,
Christmas.
{Christmas day}. Same as {Christmas}.
{Christmas eve}, the evening before Christmas.
{Christmas fern} (Bot.), an evergreen North American fern
({Aspidium acrostichoides}), which is much used for
decoration in winter.
{Christmas flower}, {Christmas rose}, the black hellebore, a
poisonous plant of the buttercup family, which in Southern
Europe often produces beautiful roselike flowers
midwinter.
{Christmas tree}, a small evergreen tree, set up indoors, to
be decorated with bonbons, presents, etc., and illuminated
on Christmas eve.
[1913 Webster]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Fern \Fern\ (f[~e]rn), n. [AS. fearn; akin to D. varen, G. farn,
farnkraut; cf. Skr. par[.n]a wing, feather, leaf, sort of
plant, or Lith. papartis fern.] (Bot.)
An order of cryptogamous plants, the {Filices}, which have
their fructification on the back of the fronds or leaves.
They are usually found in humid soil, sometimes grow
epiphytically on trees, and in tropical climates often attain
a gigantic size.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The plants are asexual, and bear clustered sporangia,
containing minute spores, which germinate and form
prothalli, on which are borne the true organs of
reproduction. The brake or bracken, the maidenhair, and
the polypody are all well known ferns.
[1913 Webster]
{Christmas fern}. See under {Christmas}.
{Climbing fern} (Bot.), a delicate North American fern
({Lygodium palmatum}), which climbs several feet high over
bushes, etc., and is much sought for purposes of
decoration.
{Fern owl}. (Zool.)
(a) The European goatsucker.
(b) The short-eared owl. [Prov. Eng.] -- {Fern shaw}, a fern
thicket. [Eng.] --R. Browning.
[1913 Webster]
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