Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Wardian \Ward"i*an\, a.
   Designating, or pertaining to, a kind of glass inclosure for
   keeping ferns, mosses, etc., or for transporting growing
   plants from a distance; as, a Wardian case of plants; -- so
   named from the inventor, Nathaniel B. Ward, an Englishman.