noun
genus of chiefly small rock-loving ferns; in some classification systems it is placed in the family Polypodiaceae or Adiantaceae
• Syn: ↑genus Pellaea
• Hypernyms: ↑fern genus
• Member Holonyms: ↑Pteridaceae, ↑family Pteridaceae
• Member Meronyms:
↑cliff brake, ↑cliff-brake, ↑rock brake, ↑coffee fern, ↑Pellaea andromedifolia, ↑button fern, ↑Pellaea rotundifolia
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\\pəˈlēə, peˈ-\ nounUsage: capitalized
Etymology: New Latin, from Late Greek pellaia, feminine of pellaios dark-colored; from the dark leaves; akin to Greek polios gray — more at fallow
: a genus of mostly small rock-loving ferns (family Polypodiaceae) having pinnate or pinnatifid often evergreen fronds and intramarginal sori with the indusium formed by the reflexed margins of the fertile segments
Useful english dictionary. 2012.