AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Leaves. The leaves of ferns are often called fronds. Fronds are usually composed of a leafy blade and petiole (leaf stalk). Leaf shape, size, texture and degree of complexity vary considerably from species to species.

Detailed explanation-2: -The frilly, sometimes drooping part we usually refer to as the fern is in fact the leaf, or frond. Its stem is sometimes called the stipe or stalk. The little fingers that branch off of the stipe are called leaflets. This is where it starts getting tricky. In some ferns, the leaflets are divided multiple times.

Detailed explanation-3: -A frond is a large, divided leaf. In both common usage and botanical nomenclature, the leaves of ferns are referred to as fronds and some botanists restrict the term to this group.

Detailed explanation-4: -ˈfränd. : a large leaf (especially of a palm or fern) usually with many divisions. : a thallus or thalloid shoot (as of a lichen or seaweed) resembling a leaf. fronded.

Detailed explanation-5: -A compound leaf-that is, a leaf with many fine and deep divisions-is a frond, such as on ferns and palm trees. Although commonly referring to the leafy part of a fern or palm, the noun frond can also refer to anything that has a similar shape to a palm frond or fern frond.