Blechnum spicant
- noun
- Specialized
:
Blechnum spicant
- Gardeners sometimes plant Blechnum spicant in shady areas for its graceful, evergreen foliage.
Examples
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In the wild, deer are known to browse on Blechnum spicant throughout the year.
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Botanists often study Blechnum spicant because of its distinctive erect fronds and adaptability to different environments.
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The Blechnum spicant thrives in shaded areas.
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Many gardeners love to cultivate Blechnum spicant.
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Botanists often study Blechnum spicant because of its distinctive erect fronds and adaptability to different environments.
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Gardeners sometimes plant Blechnum spicant in shady areas for its graceful, evergreen foliage.
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Many gardeners love to cultivate Blechnum spicant for its lush appearance in their gardens.
Synonyms
A green fern with feathery leaves that grows in shady woods and is sometimes eaten by deer
A fern with tough, leathery leaves that grows in shady woods
Surface Forms
Morphology
Blechnum + spicant
This is a Latin binomial: 'Blechnum' denotes the genus (a type of fern) and 'spicant' is the species epithet. A learner who knows both constituents can infer it refers to a particular kind of Blechnum (i.e. a fern), but the specific sense, common name and ecological details are botanical/proper-noun knowledge and not fully predictable from the parts, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Blechnum spicant is often called the 'deer fern' because deer eat it in the wild and its leaves grow upright like little spikes. One popular story says the Latin word spicant points to that spike shape, so the name helps you remember it is a fern with straight, upright leaves that deer browse.
