| Noun | 1. | wood-fern - any of various ferns of the genus Dryopterisfern - any of numerous flowerless and seedless vascular plants having true roots from a rhizome and fronds that uncurl upward; reproduce by spores Dryopteris, genus Dryopteris - large widespread genus of medium-sized terrestrial ferns; in some classification systems placed in Polypodiaceae Dryopteris fragrans, fragrant cliff fern, fragrant shield fern, fragrant wood fern - fern or northern Eurasia and North America having fragrant fronds Dryopteris filix-mas, male fern - fern of North America and Europe whose rhizomes and stalks yield an oleoresin used to expel tapeworms Dryopteris marginalis, leatherleaf wood fern, marginal wood fern, evergreen wood fern - North American fern with evergreen fronds Dryopteris oreades, mountain male fern - a fern of the genus Dryopteris |