adder's tongue

9.9

A small fern with one leaf and a thin spore spike like a snake's tongue

noun
/ˈædərz tʌŋ/

: lengua de víbora

The distinctive spike of the adder's tongue makes it easy to recognize among other ferns.

Examples

The adder's tongue fern is often found in moist, shady areas.
We found several adder's tongue ferns growing in the damp meadow.
Botanists studied the reproduction of adder's tongue to better understand fern development.
Look at that adder's tongue!
The distinctive spike of the adder's tongue makes it easy to recognize among other ferns.
We found several adder's tongue ferns growing in the damp meadow.
The adder's tongue fern is often found in moist, shady areas.

Synonyms

adder's tongue fern

vsadder's tongue

9.9

A fern with a thin spike that looks like a snake's tongue

focuses on being a small fern with one leaf and a spore spike

Ophioglossum

vsadder's tongue

Specialized

9.9

A group of ferns called adder's-tongues with simple leaves and spore stalks

is the specific small species within that genus with one leaf

Surface Forms

adder's tongue singular

adder's tongues plural

Morphology

adder's + tongue

The compound literally reads as the 'tongue of an adder' (adder = snake) so a learner who knows the constituents can infer a tongue-like shape or snake-related object. However, the expression names a specific small fern (a botanical taxon) with a spore-bearing spike, which is not predictable from the parts alone, so the connection is only partially transparent.

Etymology

The name adder's tongue comes from a small fern with one leaf and a thin spike that looks like a snake's tongue. People linked the spike to an adder, a kind of snake, so the name means 'snake tongue' and explains why the plant has this name today.