Tree fern
The tree ferns are the ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level. Most tree ferns are members of the "core tree ferns", belonging to the families Dicksoniaceae, Metaxyaceae, and Cibotiaceae in the order Cyatheales. In addition to the those families, many ferns in other groups may be considered tree ferns, such as several ferns in the family Osmundaceae, which can achieve short trunks under a metre tall, and particularly ferns in the genus Cibotium, which can grow ten metres tall. Fern species with short trunks in the genera Blechnum, Calochleana, Cnemedaria, Culcita (Europe's only tree fern), Cystodium, Leptopteris, Lophosoria, Sadleria, Thyrsopteris and Todea could also be considered tree ferns in a liberal interpretation of the term.
Tree ferns are found growing in tropical and subtropical areas, including cool to temperate rainforests in Australia, New Zealand and neighbouring regions (e.g. Malaysia, Lord Howe Island, etc.). Like all ferns, tree ferns reproduce by means of spores formed on the undersides of the fronds.
The fronds of tree ferns are usually very large and multiple-pinnate. Tree ferns do not form new woody tissue in their trunk as they grow. Rather, the trunk is supported by a fibrous mass of roots that expands as the tree fern grows.
If the crown of Dicksonia antarctica (the most common species in gardens) is damaged, it will inevitably die because that is where all the new growth occurs. But other clump-forming tree fern species, such as D. squarrosa and D. youngiae, can regenerate from basal offsets or from "pups" emerging along the surviving trunk length. Tree ferns often fall over in the wild, yet manage to re-root from this new prostrate position and begin new vertical growth.
It is not certain how many species of tree fern there are, but it is likely to be around a thousand. Many species have become extinct in the last century as forest habitats have come under pressure from human intervention.