brittle maidenhair
- noun
- US
:
helecho maidenhair frágil
- The brittle maidenhair thrived in the greenhouse where humidity was kept high.
Examples
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Gardens often feature the brittle maidenhair due to its lush, decorative foliage.
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The brittle maidenhair fern thrives in humid environments.
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Botanists recommend the brittle maidenhair for its attractive, feathery leaves.
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She loves her brittle maidenhair plant.
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Botanists recommend the brittle maidenhair for its attractive, feathery leaves.
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Gardens often feature the brittle maidenhair due to its lush, decorative foliage.
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The brittle maidenhair thrived in the humidity of the greenhouse.
Synonyms
A tropical fern with thin, easily broken leaves often grown indoors for its pretty look
A fern from tropical America with broad, delicate leaves people grow in shaded gardens
A tropical fern with delicate fan-shaped leaves often grown for decoration
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a simple adjective + noun description: 'brittle' describes the property of the 'maidenhair' fern, so a learner who knows both words can derive it refers to a maidenhair fern that is liable to break. There is no idiomatic or metaphorical shift and it follows ordinary descriptive compounding, making the meaning immediately predictable.
Etymology
The plant name brittle maidenhair may come from the fern's thin, hair-like leaves that looked like a young woman's hair, which gave the name maidenhair, and from how those leaves break easily, which gave the word brittle. So the name came to mean 'a delicate decorative fern'.
