Cyathea australis

Stony Range RBG FloraBanksia serrata Bird’s Nest Fern Boronia mollis x fraseri Broad-leaved Drumsticks Cabbage Tree Palm Cyathea australis Flame Pea Flannel Flower Fuchsia Heath Native Violet Pink Rock Orchid Pittosporum revolutum Staghorn

Cyathea australis, commonly known as the Rough Tree Fern. The common name describes the tree fern well, as the trunk and the back of the stripe are quite rough to touch. An impressive tree fern found in both rainforests and open dry forest habitats, stretching from the sub-tropical Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.

The Rough Tree Fern is one of the tallest growing tree ferns in Australia and has long, dark green fronds that sit majestically atop its large woody trunk.

Sometimes it can be confusing to the novice to tell the difference between C. australis and C. cooperi. The stipes of C. australis are much thinner and are covered in short, sharp-edged curly red-brown scales, whilst in C. cooperi the colour is tawny brown, long and hairy. Most importantly, C. australis have sharp little bumps – almost spines – at the base and is the give away when comparing these two species.

What is a fern stipe?
The fronds of a fern consist of two parts, the stipe and the lamina (leaf blade). The stipe is the stalk that connects the leaf blade to the rhizome of the fern. The blade of a fern is the leaf portion that expands outward from the rachis (the mid-vein of the frond).