Different Types of Ferns

There are a few different types of ferns in Australia.

Ferns are vascular plants that differ from most other plants because they lack flowers and seeds. Instead they reproduce using asexual spores which can be seen as dots on the underside of their leaves, in most species. It is believed that flowering plants evolved from ferns because some fossils have been found of fern like plants that produced seeds. Here is some information about some species of Australian ferns.




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Types of Ferns in Australia
Australian ferns are often large tree ferns. Tree ferns have a long branchless trunk in top of which there is a crown with fronds, just like in palm trees.


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Rough Tree Fern (Cyathea australis) is a massive, up to 20 metres high tree fern, with a rough trunk with a widely spreaded crown with 2-5 metres long fronds. Their spragia is arranged in round clusters on the underside of leaves. Rough Tree Fern is found in coastal areas of Victoria, New South wales and southern Queensland, as well as in whole Tasmania. Lacy Tree Fern (Cyathea cooperi) is an up to 12 metres high tree fern with a patterned trunk, spreading crown and large light green fronds that are up to 5 metres long. Sporagia is arranged in round clusters on the underside of fertile leaves. Lacy Tree Fern is found in pockets in coastal Queensland, New South Wales and south western WA. It is also found in tiny pockets near Adelaide in South Australia, and Melbourne in Victoria.


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Types of Ferns in Australia

Prickly Tree Fern (Cyathea leichhardtiana) is an up to 7 metres high fern with a spreading crown and shiny dark green fronds. The trunk is dark brown and sporangia is arranged in round clusters underside of the leaves. It is found along the coasts of New South Wales and Queensland. Soft Tree Fern (Dicksonia Antarctica) is an up to 15 metres high fern that has got a spreading crown, lagre dark green fronds that are paler below, and its sporangia is arranged in round clusters along the margins of fertile leaves. Soft Tree Fern is found along the coasts of Victoria, New South wales and southern Queensland. As the Rough Tree Fern, it extends a bit futher inland than the rest of the species described here.


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Bristly Tree Fern (Dicksonia youngiae) is a small, up to 5 metres long tree fern with a widely spreading crown, dark reddish brown trunk, bright green fronds that can be up to 3 metres long. Its sporadia is arranged in round clusters that are found on the margins of the underside of fertile leaves. Bristly Tree Fern is found in small pockets around Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast, and around Cairns in north Queensland.