| Noun | 1.flowering fern - Australasian fern with clusters of sporangia on stems of fertile frondsHelminthostachys zeylanicafern - any of numerous flowerless and seedless vascular plants having true roots from a rhizome and fronds that uncurl upward; reproduce by sporesgenus Helminthostachys, Helminthostachys - one species: terrestrial fern of southeastern Asia and Australia | | 2. flowering fern - any fern of the genus Osmunda: large ferns with creeping rhizomes; naked sporangia are on modified fronds that resemble flower clustersosmundfern - any of numerous flowerless and seedless vascular plants having true roots from a rhizome and fronds that uncurl upward; reproduce by sporesgenus Osmunda - type genus of the Osmundaceaeditch fern, French bracken, Osmunda regalis, royal fern, royal osmund, king fern - large deeply rooted fern of worldwide distribution with upright bipinnate compound tufted frondsinterrupted fern, Osmunda clatonia - North American fern having tall erect pinnate fronds and a few sporogenous pinnae at or near the center of the fertile frondscinnamon fern, fiddlehead fern, Osmunda cinnamonea, 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 |