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Glite Dictionary
hand fern

hand fern

1 9.5
A fern from tropical America with leaves shaped like a hand
  • noun
  • US
: helecho mano
  • We spotted a rare hand fern growing in the damp understory of the rainforest.

Examples

  • Botanists study the habitat requirements of the hand fern to aid in its conservation.

  • The hand fern is prized among plant enthusiasts for its unusual, hand-shaped fronds.

  • The hand fern thrives in humid conditions.

  • I found a beautiful hand fern in the garden.

  • The hand fern grows abundantly in the humid areas of the rainforest.

  • Botanists identified the hand fern by its distinctive palm-shaped fronds.

  • In her garden, she cultivates several types of tropical plants, including the hand fern.

Synonyms

Doryopteris pedata
vshand fern
  • Specialized
9.9

A fern with leaves shaped like a hand that grows in tropical America

has fronds with broader, coarser lobes rather than deep cuts

Surface Forms

hand fern singular
hand ferns plural

Morphology

hand + fern

The meaning 'a fern with fronds that are coarsely lobed or palm-shaped' is directly inferable from combining 'hand' (indicating a hand- or palm-like shape) with 'fern' (the plant). Body-part-based descriptive plant names are a common, cross-linguistic naming pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both words would likely understand this MWE.

Etymology

Hand fern gets its name from the plant's leaves, which are split into wide parts that look like an open hand or 'palm'. That's why the name means a fern with hand-shaped leaves.