Male fern Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun fern of North America and Europe whose rhizomes and stalks yield an oleoresin used to expel tapeworms
    Dryopteris filix-mas.

WordNet

Definitions
  1. (Bot.), a fern of the genus Aspidium (A. Filixmas), used in medicine as an anthelmintic, esp. against the tapeworm. Aspidium marginale in America, and A. athamanticum in South Africa, are used as good substitutes for the male fern in medical practice. See Female fern, under Female.

Webster 1913