American parsley fern

9.2

A fern that grows in rocky places in northern North America with leaves like parsley

noun

: helecho de perejil americano

With its fronds shaped like parsley leaves, the American parsley fern is easily recognizable in the wild.

Examples

The American parsley fern thrives in rocky crevices across Canada and parts of the northern United States.
Botanists discovered a new population of American parsley fern in a remote mountain region.
The American parsley fern thrives in rocky areas.
Have you seen the American parsley fern in the garden?
Botanists discovered a new population of American parsley fern in a remote mountain region.
The American parsley fern thrives in rocky crevices across Canada and parts of the northern United States.
With its fronds shaped like parsley leaves, the American parsley fern is easily recognizable in the wild.

Synonyms

Cryptogramma acrostichoides

vsAmerican parsley fern

Specialized

9.9

A small fern that grows in clumps on rocks with leaves like parsley

has identical meaning but differs only as an alternate name form

American rock brake

vsAmerican parsley fern

Specialized

9.9

A fern that grows on rocks in northern North America with fronds like parsley

has identical meaning but differs only as an alternate name form

Surface Forms

American parsley fern singular

American parsley ferns plural

Morphology

American + parsley + fern

The phrase is fully compositional: 'American' signals geographic origin, 'parsley' signals a resemblance to parsley (shape of fronds), and 'fern' names the plant, so the overall meaning (a fern from America that looks like parsley) is directly inferable. Botanical compound nouns like this follow common noun-modifier patterns and are likely transparent to learners who know the constituent words.

Etymology

American parsley fern may come from two simple facts: its leaves look like parsley and it is a fern 'native to North America'. So the name tells you it is a fern with parsley-like leaves that grows in America.