tree fern

Any of various large tropical ferns, especially of the families Cyatheaceae and Dicksoniaceae, having a woody trunklike stem and a terminal crown of large, pinnately divided fronds.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

tree fern

(Plants) any of numerous large tropical ferns, mainly of the family Cyatheaceae, having a trunklike stem bearing fronds at the top

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

tree′ fern`

any of various mostly tropical ferns, chiefly of the family Cyatheaceae, that attain the size of trees.

[1840–50]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

tree fern - any of numerous usually tropical ferns having a thick woody stem or caudex and a crown of large fronds; found especially in Australia and New Zealand; chiefly of the families Cyatheaceae and Marattiaceae but some from Polypodiaceae

fern - any of numerous flowerless and seedless vascular plants having true roots from a rhizome and fronds that uncurl upward; reproduce by spores

black tree fern, Cyathea medullaris, sago fern, silver tree fern - a showy tree fern of New Zealand and Australia having a crown of pinnated fronds with whitish undersides

Dicksonia antarctica, soft tree fern - of Australia and Tasmania; often cultivated; hardy in cool climates

Cibotium barometz, Scythian lamb - Asiatic tree fern having dense matted hairs sometimes used as a styptic

thyrsopteris, Thyrsopteris elegans - a terrestrial tree fern of South America

angiopteris, Angiopteris evecta, giant fern - highly variable species of very large primitive ferns of the Pacific tropical areas with high rainfall

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

The water was quite free from reptiles, and the vegetation upon the banks of the river had altered to more open and parklike forest, with eucalyptus and acacia mingled with a scattering of tree ferns, as though two distinct periods of geologic time had overlapped and merged.

View in context

The forest abounded with beautiful objects; among which the tree ferns, though not large, were, from their bright green foliage, and the elegant curvature of their fronds, most worthy of admiration.

View in context

SI was involved in the popularisation of Dicksonia antarctica, that amazing Tasmanian tree fern which sprung up on makeover shows, magazines and books about 20 years ago.

ENJOYING FERN BRITAIN; Introduced here 200 years ago, tree ferns are a great way to go sub-tropical in the UK

In this study, we report galls on the Brazilian tree fern Cyathea phalerata Mart.

First record of galls in the tree fern Cyathea phalerata (Cyatheaceae) from a Tropical Rainforest in Brazil

Specific topics encompass the paleobotany of Livingston Island, Antarctica; targeted isolation and sequence assembly and characterization of the white spruce; the complete chloroplast genome sequence of a tree fern; reverse genetic analyses of gene function in fern gametophytes; glossopterid seed ferns from the Late Permian period; pollen development; DNA barcoding in the Cycadales; expressed sequence tag analysis in Ginkgo biloba; frequent fires in ancient shrub tundra; the history of native plant communities in the South; past vegetation patterns of New Mexico's Rio Del Oso Valley; and East Asian monsoon and paleoclimatic data analysis.

Vascular plants and paleobotany

Similarly, tender ferns such as the tree fern (Dicksonia antarctica) should be protected.

TOP TIPS

Other exotics include the tree fern, Dicksonia antarctica, another popular species in the contemporary garden which is particularly suited to smaller spaces as it's slow growing.

gardening: Touch of the tropics

Due to their epiphytic (non-parasitic) habit, they require an organic, loose, well-drained potting medium such as sphagnum moss alone or mixed with other materials like tree fern fiber and leaf mold.

Spectacular staghorns: these easy-to-grow tropical ferns have regained popularity

Gardener: My garden has extensive landscaping and rare tropical plants; a butterfly garden ; varieties of ferns, including a 6-foot tall Australian tree fern; and banana and citrus trees which provide fruit most of the year.

Balance Sheet

Good idea If you have a damp, shady spoS spot in the garden, take a tip from Stephen and put in a dramatic tree fern with smaller lush ferns around it.

GLOBE PLOTTER; Turn your garden into a holiday escapeStep into your garden and be instantly transported into an Azores jungle, a Swiss mountain or Italian palazzo. We picked our top three designs from last month's World of Gardens at Hampton Court Palace Show, so get inspired and create a holiday on your doorstep..

QI'm tempted to buy a tree fern, but will it survive outside?

EXPERT ADVICE

Considering that in southern Brazil there is no dry season, photoperiod and temperature were expected to be important abiotic factors affecting the phenology of the tree fern analysed.

Caudex growth and phenology of Cyathea atrovirens (Langsd. & Fisch.) Domin (Cyatheaceae) in secondary forest, southern Brazil/Crescimento do caudice e fenologia de Cyathea atrovirens (Langsd. & Fisch.) Domin (Cyatheaceae) em floresta secundaria, no sul do Brasil