a common tufted erect fern of the polypody family, Blechnum spicant, having dark-green lanceolate leaves: it prefers acid soils, and in the US is sometimes grown as deer feed
another name for hard fern
deer fern in American English
noun
an evergreen fern, Blechnum spicant, of Eurasia and western North America, having densely clustered fronds
Word origin
[so called because it is often cultivated for deer]