Meanings
plural Christmas ferns
- An evergreen fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) of eastern North America.
Christmas fern can be massed as groundcover, or a clump looks nice tucked into the base of a stump.
2006, Lynn M. Steiner, Landscaping with Native Plants of Michigan, →ISBN, page 1352 more examples
Our well-known Aspidium acrostichoides, so available for winter decorations, is happily christened Cʜʀɪsᴛᴍᴀs Fᴇʀɴ – a name which I certainly hope will be generally adopted.
1873, D. C. Eaton, edited by John Torrey, Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, volume IV, page 19In reference to Dryopteris acrostichoides, it may be of interest to note the origin of the best known common name. The name christmas fern appears to have been thus applied for a comparatively short time.
1899, W. R. Maxon, Fern Bulletin: A Quarterly Devoted to Ferns, volume VII, page 15
Synonyms & antonyms
nounNorth American evergreen fern having pinnate leaves and dense clusters of lance-shaped fronds
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Coined by American botanist John Robinson in 1873. Polystichum acrostichoides had already become a common ornamental plant in the northeastern United States, with its fronds remaining green through Christmas in late December.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Christmas fern. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Christmas%20fern
“Christmas fern.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Christmas%20fern. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Christmas fern,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Christmas%20fern.
Source: Christmas fern on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.