spleenwort (redirected from spleenworts)

spleen·wort  (splnwûrt, -wôrt)

n.

Any of numerous widely distributed evergreen ferns of the genus Asplenium, having undivided to featherlike fronds and oblong to linear sori located on the small veins.

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[So called because it was thought to cure spleen disorders.]

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spleenwort [ˈspliːnˌwɜːt]

n

(Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Plants) any of various ferns of the genus Asplenium, esp A. trichomanes, that often grows on walls, having linear or oblong sori on the undersurface of the fronds See also asplenium

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

spleenwort - any of various chiefly rock-inhabiting ferns of the genus Asplenium fern - any of numerous flowerless and seedless vascular plants having true roots from a rhizome and fronds that uncurl upward; reproduce by spores Asplenium, genus Asplenium - in some classification systems placed in family Polypodiaceae Asplenium adiantum-nigrum, black spleenwort - spleenwort of Europe and Africa and Asia having pinnate fronds and yielding an astringent Asplenium platyneuron, ebony spleenwort, Scott's Spleenwort - common North American fern with polished black stripes black-stem spleenwort, black-stemmed spleenwort, little ebony spleenwort - fern of tropical America: from southern United States to West Indies and Mexico to Brazil Asplenium rhizophyllum, Camptosorus rhizophyllus, walking fern, walking leaf - ferns having lanceolate fronds that root at the tip Asplenium trichomanes, maidenhair spleenwort - small rock-inhabiting fern of northern temperate zone and Hawaii with pinnate fronds Asplenium viride, green spleenwort - a small fern with slim green fronds; widely distributed in cool parts of northern hemisphere Asplenium montanum, mountain spleenwort - a spleenwort of eastern North America Asplenium ruta-muraria, wall rue, wall rue spleenwort - small delicate spleenwort found on a steep slope (as a wall or cliff) of Eurasia and North America Asplenium bradleyi, Bradley's spleenwort - a spleenwort of eastern to southern United States Asplenium pinnatifidum, lobed spleenwort - a spleenwort of eastern and southern United States Asplenium billotii, lanceolate spleenwort - a spleenwort of western Europe