fiddlehead

fid·dle·head  (fdl-hd)

n.

1. Nautical A curved, scroll-like ornamentation at the top of a ship's bow that resembles the neck of a violin.

2. Botany The coiled young frond of any of various ferns, some of which are considered a delicacy when cooked. Also called crosier.

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fiddlehead [ˈfɪd^əlˌhɛd], fiddleneck

n

1. (Transport / Nautical Terms) Nautical an ornamental carving, in the shape of the scroll at the head end of a fiddle, fitted to the top of the stem or cutwater

2. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Botany) US and Canadian the edible coiled tip of a young fern frond

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	fiddlehead - tall fern of northern temperate regions having graceful arched fronds and sporophylls resembling ostrich plumes Matteuccia struthiopteris, Onoclea struthiopteris, ostrich fern, Pteretis struthiopteris, shuttlecock fern fern - any of numerous flowerless and seedless vascular plants having true roots from a rhizome and fronds that uncurl upward; reproduce by spores genus Matteuccia, genus Pteretis, Matteuccia, Pteretis - small genus sometimes included in genus Onoclea; in some classifications both genera are placed in Polypodiaceae
	2.	fiddlehead - New World fern having woolly cinnamon-colored spore-bearing fronds in early spring later surrounded by green fronds; the early uncurling fronds are edible cinnamon fern, fiddlehead fern, Osmunda cinnamonea osmund, flowering fern - any fern of the genus Osmunda: large ferns with creeping rhizomes; naked sporangia are on modified fronds that resemble flower clusters