The Collaborative International Dictionary
Flowering \Flow"er*ing\, a. (Bot.) Having conspicuous flowers; -- used as an epithet with many names of plants; as, flowering ash; flowering dogwood; flowering almond, etc.
Flowering fern, a genus of showy ferns ( Osmunda), with conspicuous bivalvular sporangia. They usually grow in wet places.
Flowering plants, plants which have stamens and pistils, and produce true seeds; phenogamous plants; -- distinguished from flowerless plants.
Flowering rush, a European rushlike plant ( Butomus umbellatus), with an umbel of rosy blossoms.
WordNet
n. Australasian fern with clusters of sporangia on stems of fertile fronds [syn: Helminthostachys zeylanica]
any fern of the genus Osmunda: large ferns with creeping rhizomes; naked sporangia are on modified fronds that resemble flower clusters [syn: osmund]
Usage examples of "flowering fern".
It needs a soil of bog earth and is incorrectly styled the 'Flowering Fern,' from the handsome spikes of fructification.
Her hair, blowing backward and forward in the fragrant breeze, was the finest spray of flowering fern, and her dress was most enchanting of all.
It is said the name 'Herb Christopher' was also formerly applied to the flowering fern, Osmunda regalis.