bear's-paw fern
- noun
- Philippine
:
helecho pata de oso
- The bear's-paw fern thrives in humid, shady environments attached to tree trunks.
Examples
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We spotted a rare bear's-paw fern while hiking in the forests of Taiwan.
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Many gardeners grow the bear's-paw fern for its attractive, broad fronds.
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The bear's-paw fern thrives in humid environments.
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Look at that bear's-paw fern!
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Many gardeners grow the bear's-paw fern for its attractive, broad fronds.
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The bear's-paw fern thrives in humid, shady environments attached to tree trunks.
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We spotted a rare bear's-paw fern while hiking in the forests of Taiwan.
Synonyms
A fern with large leaves that grows on other plants in Taiwan and the Philippines
How Ornamental
Surface Forms
Morphology
bear's-paw + fern
The phrase is a straightforward compound of 'bear's paw' + 'fern' so a learner who knows 'bear', 'paw', and 'fern' can infer it denotes a type of fern whose fronds resemble a bear's paw; the specialized botanical note (epiphytic) doesn't change the basic, visible meaning. This kind of descriptive noun-noun naming is cross-linguistically common and thus immediately comprehensible to B1 learners who know the constituent words.
Etymology
Bear's-paw fern comes from how the plant looks: its large, divided leaves look like a bear's-paw. That's why the name helps you remember it is a fern with wide, paw-like leaves.