Meanings
plural Alice's ferns
- Synonym of American climbing fern (Lygodium palmatum)
Synonyms: American climbing fern
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of American climbing fern (Lygodium palmatum)
Origin
Of unclear origin. Seemingly first mentioned in a letter written in November 1900 and published in January 1901 in Fern Bulletin, in which William R. Maxon describes its sale in Washington, DC, by "old negro women [...among whom] it goes altogether by the name of 'Alice's fern,' a new one, perhaps, to most fern students". In September 1901, her father's rise to the US presidency made Alice Roosevelt Longworth a celebrity and Alice blue was named for her, but in 1900 she was not so prominent.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Alice's fern. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Alice's%20fern
“Alice's fern.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Alice's%20fern. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Alice's fern,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Alice's%20fern.
Source: Alice's fern on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.