fiddlehead

fid·dle·head

fiddlehead

n.
  1. any of several tall ferns of northern temperate regions having graceful arched fronds and sporophylls resembling ostrich plumes.
  2. New World fern (Osmunda cinnamonea) having woolly cinnamon-colored spore-bearing fronds in early spring later surrounded by green fronds, called also fiddlehead fern; the early uncurling fronds are edible, and sometimes considered as a vegetable delicacy.
  3. an ornament on a ship's bow, curved like the volute or scroll at the head of a violin. Sometimes it serves the function of a billhead. (Naut.)