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

Noun

a kind of fern that grows on walls

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