leather fern n 1: stout tropical swamp fern (especially tropical America) having large fronds with golden yellow sporangia covering the undersides [syn: {golden fern}, {Acrostichum aureum}] 2: widely distributed fern of tropical southern hemisphere having leathery pinnatifid fronds [syn: {leatherleaf fern}, {ten-day fern}, {Rumohra adiantiformis}, {Polystichum adiantiformis}]