Dicksonia antarctica Labill. commonly called soft tree fern, is an evergreen terrestrial tree fern that is native to moist areas of cool mountain forests, sheltered woodland slopes, gullies and along shaded creek beds in southeastern Australia and Tasmania. In the wild, it grows to 9 m tall with a trunk diameter up to 75 cm. In cultivation, it grows much smaller.
The woody trunk is nearly black. It primarily consists of a relatively thin, erect rhizome covered with a dense mass or mantle of fibrous roots. Large, rough-textured, deeply-divided, arching, tripinnate fronds (to 25 cm long) spread outward from the top of the trunk to form a canopy. A leaf cap covers the spores found on the undersides of the fronds. This plant is also commonly called Tasmanian tree fern.
Genus name honors James Dickson (1738-1822), British botanist and nurseryman.
Specific epithet presumably refers to the southern native range of this fern.
Dicksonia antarctica
Dicksonia antarctica is approx 100 cm tall come in a ø 24 cm pot.
