fiddlehead

Plural: fiddleheads

Noun

• tall fern of northern temperate regions having graceful arched fronds and sporophylls resembling ostrich plumes
• New World fern having woolly cinnamon-colored spore-bearing fronds in early spring later surrounded by green fronds; the early uncurling fronds are edible
• The scroll-shaped decoration at the tip of a fiddle.
• A similar scroll-shaped ornament on a ship's bow.
• The furled fronds of a young fern, sometimes harvested for food consumption.

Synonyms

cinnamon fern, fiddlehead fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris, Onoclea struthiopteris, Osmunda cinnamonea, ostrich fern, Pteretis struthiopteris, shuttlecock fern, circinate vernation, scroll, tete de violin, tete-de-violin, violin head

Related Words

fiddleback, fiddleneck, filicoid, filicology