Dicksonia antarctica

Dicksonia antarctica, commonly known as the soft tree fern, is a large tree fern native to eastern Australia, ranging from south east Queensland through New South Wales and Victoria to Tasmania. It’s one of the most recognisable understorey species of Wet Sclerophyll forest, often forming extensive stands in moist, shaded gullies and along creek beds.

Description

The soft tree fern typically grows to around 5 metres, though it can reach up to 15 metres in exceptional cases, with a trunk (technically a caudex, not a true woody trunk) around 30 centimetres in diameter. The trunk is a soft, fibrous structure formed from a core of pith surrounded by vascular tissue, densely covered in matted brown fibrous roots and the remnant bases of old fronds — giving it its distinctive hairy, reddish-brown appearance. A large, funnel-shaped crown of arching, deeply divided, glossy dark green fronds sits atop the trunk, potentially helping the plant collect rainwater. Growth is slow, and it can take around 20 years before the plant produces spores.

Habitat and ecological role

Dicksonia antarctica favours moist, shaded gullies and creek beds within wet sclerophyll forest, thriving in high-rainfall conditions with reliable moisture. Its fibrous trunk provides an important habitat surface for other species, including epiphytic mosses, ferns, and orchids. The species is considered a keystone element of wet forest ecosystems — its root mats also provide habitat for species such as the endangered Narracan burrowing crayfish, and its decline in heavily disturbed or clear-felled areas has flow-on effects for the broader community of species that depend on it.

Position in this vault

Dicksonia antarctica represents the understorey layer of the Wet Sclerophyll forest type this vault takes its broader ecological context from, growing beneath the tall eucalypt canopy formed by species like Eucalyptus fastigata and Eucalyptus cypellocarpa.