Tasmanian Tree Fern (Dicksonia antarctica) is an evergreen tree fern native to parts of Australia, namely New South Wales, Tasmania, and Victoria. Tree Fern (Dicksonia antarctica) in an English garden. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Divisions Green algae Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular embryophytes Hepatophyta - liverworts Anthocerophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Seedless vascular plants Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants... Classes Marattiopsida Osmundopsida Gleicheniopsida Pteridopsida A fern, or pteridophyte, is any one of a group of some twenty thousand species of plants classified in the Division Pteridophyta, formerly known as Filicophyta. ... Subclasses Subclass: Cyatheatae Subclass: Schizaeatae Subclass: Pteriditae Subclass: Polypoditae The Pteridopsida is a class of plants in the Division Pteridophyta that includes the modern ferns. ... Families and Genera Cytheaceae     Alsophila     Cnemidaria     Cythaea     Sphaeropteris     Trichipteris Dicksoniaceae     Calochlaena     Cibotium     Culcita     Cystodium     Dicksonia     Thyrsopteris Losophoriaceae     Lophosoria Loxomaceae     Loxoma     Loxsomopsis Metaxyaceae     Metaxya The Order Cytheales is a taxonomic division of the fern (Division Pteridophyta) subclass, Cyatheatae, which includes the tree ferns. ... Genera Calochlaena Cibotium Culcita Cystodium Dicksonia Thysopteris The Dicksoniaceae are a family of tropical, subtropical and warm temperate ferns. ... Tree Fern refers to any fern that grows with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is a standard convention used for naming species. ... Tree Fern refers to any fern that grows with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level. ... Motto: Orta Recens Quam Pura Nites (Newly Risen, How Brightly You Shine) Nickname: Premier State Other Australian states and territories Capital Sydney Government Governor Premier Const. ... Motto: Ubertas et Fidelitas (Fertility and Faithfulness) Nickname: The Apple Isle Other Australian states and territories Capital Hobart Government Governor Premier Const. ... Motto: Peace and Prosperity Nickname: Garden State Other Australian states and territories Capital Melbourne Government Governor Premier Const. ...

Anatomy and biology

These ferns can grow to 15 m in height, but more typically grow to about 4.5-5 m, and consist of an erect rhizome forming a trunk. They are very hairy at the base of the stipe (trunk). The large, dark green, roughly-textured fronds spread in a canopy of 2-6 m in diameter. The shapes of the stems vary as some grow curved and there are multi-headed ones. The fronds are borne in flushes, with fertile and sterile fronds often in alternating layers. In botany, a rhizome is a horizontal, usually underground stem of a plant that often sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. ... In botany, a stipe is a stem type of structure. ... A fern with simple (lobed or pinnatifid) blades, the dissection of each blade not quite reaching to the rachis. ...

The "trunk" of this fern is merely the decaying remains of earlier growth of the plant and forms a medium through which the roots grow. The trunk is usually solitary, without runners, but may produce offsets. They can be cut down and, if they are kept moist, the top portions can be replanted and will form new roots. The stump, however, will not regenerate since it is simply dead organic matter. In nature, the fibrous trunks are hosts for a range of epiphytic plants including other ferns and mosses. For other meanings of root, see Root (disambiguation). ... An example of an epiphyte assemblage of orchids and bromeliads in a garden setting The term epiphyte refers to any plant that grows upon or attached to another living plant. ... Subclasses Andreaeidae Sphagnidae Tetraphidae Polytrichidae Buxbaumiidae Bryidae Archidiidae Moss is a type of simple or non-vascular plant, of the class Musci, in the division Bryophyta, that have rhizoids instead of true roots. ...

The fern grows at a slow rate of about 3.5 to 5 cm per year and produces spores at the age of about 23 years. The term spore has several different meanings in biology. ...

Reproduction

Reproduction by this species is primarily from spores, but it can also be grown from plantlets occurring around the base of the rhizome.

In cultivation, it can also be grown as a "cutting", a method not to be encouraged unless the tree-fern is doomed to die in its present position. This involves sawing the trunk through, usually at ground level, and removing the fronds; the top part will form roots and regrow, but the base will die.

Habitat

The habitat of this fern is damp, sheltered woodland slopes and moist gullies, and they occasionally occur at high altitudes in cloud forests. Dicksonia antarctica is the most abundant tree fern in Tasmania.

The plant can grow in acid, neutral and alkaline soils. It can grow in semi-shade. It strongly resents drought or dryness at the roots, but does best in moist soil. For the heavy metal band see Soil (band) Soil is the layer of minerals and organic matter, in thickness from centimetres to a metre or more, on the land surface. ...

Cultivation

It is particularly suited to garden planting and landscaping purposes and is one of the most popular tree ferns in the world. As an ornamental plant, it is hardy to about –5 C, succeeding outdoors in the milder areas of Britain where it thrives and often self-sows in Cornish gardens. An ornamental is a plant variety that is grown for its beauty (in its end use), rather than commercial or other value. ... Cornwall (Cornish: Kernow or occasionally Curnow) is a county of England, the part of Great Britains south-west peninsula that is west of the River Tamar, often known as the Cornish peninsula or plateau. ...

It is best to leave old fronds on the plant in order to protect the trunk from cold and desiccation. Winter protection of the trunk is recommended during prolonged or severe cold weather. Desiccation is the state of extreme dryness, or the process of extreme drying. ...

They grow best in areas of rainfall of over 1,000 mm per year but in lower rainfall areas do well in moist gullies. They are tolerant of fire and re-shoot readily after re-location. This plant can provide habitat for epiphytes and also provides shelter for more delicate fern species to flourish underneath.

For optimum growth and establishment, this fern should be planted in organic soils and heavily and regularly mulched and watered. Dicksonia antarctica generally requires a minimum rainfall of 500 mm (20 inches) per year. In dry climates, a drip irrigation or spray system applied overhead is the most effective method of watering.

Trivia

The Tasmanian Tree Fern can be used as a food source, with the pith of the plant being eaten either cooked or raw. It is a very good source of starch. The centre dark spot (about 1 mm diameter) in this yew wood is the pith Pith is a light substance that is found in vascular plants. ... Starch is a complex carbohydrate which is insoluble in water. ...

This species is also known as the Soft Tree Fern, and in Tasmania they are known as Man Ferns.

References

• Tasmanian Tree Fern (http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Dicksonia+antarctica)
• Australian National Botanic Gardens: Dicksonia antarctica – the soft tree fern (http://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/interns-2003/dicksonia-antarctica.html)
• Braggins, John E. and Large, Mark F. Tree Ferns. Timber Press (2004). ISBN: 0-88192-630-2