: any of various ferns (especially families Cyatheaceae and Dicksoniaceae) of arborescent habit with a woody stem
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebIn Gilboa, forests had once grown thick with Eospermatopteris, a genus of plants resembling modern tree ferns with fronds in place of leaves and hollow, spongy trunks. Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian, 20 Dec. 2019 If the bark, tree fern or other material is turning to mush the plants need to be replanted. Tom Maccubbin, OrlandoSentinel.com, 18 June 2018 Yankee Hall, his stately country home in Furnas Valley, sits on a 30-acre plot that is now a public botanical garden thick with tree ferns, bamboo and several hundred varieties of camellias. Gisela Williams, New York Times, 9 May 2018 Not One, But Two Forests Apparently one was no fun for Hugh Hefner, who maintained both a redwood forest and a tree fern forest on the Playboy Mansion’s grounds. Elise Taylor, Vogue, 28 Sep. 2017
Word History
First Known Use
1830, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
tree fern
noun
: a tropical fern with a tall woody stalk and a crown of often feathery leaves