maidenhair

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a fern of the genus Adiantum, with delicate fan-shaped leaflets on slender dark stalks

   Maidenhair grew in the damp shade beside the waterfall.

A compound of maiden + hair, alluding to the fern's fine, dark, hairlike stalks and delicate foliage. The resemblance also inspired the name maidenhair tree for the ginkgo.

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