Frond

Frond, in Botany, a term often used to designate the leaves of cryptogamous plants. It was originally introduced as distinctive of organs in which the functions of stem and leaf are combined. The term leaf is now very generally used even of mosses, ferns, &c., and the term thallus is applied to liverworts and lichens. In the case of many Algae the term is often used to designate the whole plant except its organs of reproduction.