Frond

collection of leaflets on a plant

A frond is a large, divided leaf.[1]

The names of fern frond parts (Davallia tyermannii)
Cycas with fronds
Unfurling fiddlehead fern frond

The leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds.[2] Some botanists only use this term for ferns.[3] Other botanists also use the term 'frond' for the large leaves of cycads, as well as palms (Arecaceae) and various other flowering plants, such as mimosa or sumac.[4][5]

"Frond" is commonly used to identify a large, compound leaf. If the term is used for the leaves of ferns and algae, it can be applied to smaller and undivided leaves.

References

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  1. Raven, Evert Eichhorn (2004). The biology of plants (7th ed.). New York, New York: W.H. Freeman and Company.
  2. Gifford, Ernest M.; Foster, Adriance S. (1989). Morphology and evolution of vascular plants (3rd ed.). New York, New York: W.H. Freeman.
  3. Judd, Walter S.; Campbell, Christopher S.; Donoghue, Michael J.; Kellogg, Elizabeth A.; Stevens, Peter F. (2007). Plant systematics: a phylogenetic approach (3rd ed.). Sunderland, Massachusetts: Sinauer.
  4. Jones, David L. (1993). Cycads of the World. Smithsonian Institution Press, USA. ISBN 0730103382.
  5. Allaby, Michael (1992). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Botany. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780192860941.