What is a tree fern?
Q: What is a tree fern?
A: Tree ferns are a large group of ferns with tree-like form that belong to the Cyatheales group.
Q: How tall can tree ferns grow?
A: Tree ferns can grow up to 20 metres tall, although many are much shorter.
Q: What type of forests were mainly formed by tree ferns and cycads in the Lower Jurassic period?
A: The coal forests of the Lower Jurassic were mainly formed by tree ferns and cycads.
Q: Where are tree ferns found growing?
A: Tree ferns are found growing in tropical and subtropical areas as well as temperate rainforests in Australia, New Zealand, and other island groups nearby. A few genera extend further, such as Culcita in southern Europe.
Q: How do tree ferns reproduce?
A: Like all ferns, tree ferns reproduce by means of spores developed in sporangia on the undersides of the fronds.
Q: What is unique about how they grow compared to flowering plants? A: Unlike flowering plants, 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.
Q: How many species of tree Fern are there estimated to be? A: It is not certain how many species of tree Fern there are but it is likely to be around a thousand.
