fern-tree

Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris

n.


Name applied to variousspecies of ferns which grow to a large size, the stem in thefully grown plant reaching often a height of many feet beforethe leaves are given off. Such Tree-ferns clothe the sides ofdeep and shady gullies amongst the hills, and give rise to whatare known as Fern-tree gullies, which form a verycharacteristic feature of the moister coastal Ranges of manyparts of Australia. The principal Fern-trees or Tree-ferns, as they are indiscriminately called, ofAustralia and Tasmania are – – Dicksonia antarctica, Lab.; Alsophila australis, R. Br.; Todea africana, Willd.; Cyathea cunninghami, J. Hook.; Alsophila excelsa, R. Br.;

the last named, however, not occurring in Tasmania or Victoria.

1836. Ross, `Hobart Town Almanack,' p. 164:

«We entered a beautiful fern-tree grove, that also concealedthe heavens from view, spreading like a plantation or cocoa-nuttree orchard, but with far more elegance and effect.»

1839. C. Darwin, `Voyage of Beagle' (ed. 1890), p. 177:

«Tree-ferns thrive luxuriantly in Van Diemen's Land (lat. 45degrees), and I measured one trunk no less than six feet incircumference. An arborescent fern was found by Forster in NewZealand in 46 degrees, where orchideous plants are parasiticalon the trees. In the Auckland Islands, ferns, according toDr. Dieffenbach, have trunks so thick and high that they may bealmost called tree-ferns.»

1857. F. R. Nixon (Bishop of Tasmania), `Cruise of the Beacon,'p. 26:

«With these they [i.e. the Tasmanian Aborigines] mingled thecore or pith of the fern trees, Cibotium Bollardieriand Alsophila Australis (of which the former is ratherastringent and dry for a European palate, and the latter,though more tolerable, is yet scarcely equal to a Swedishturnip.)»

1870. S. H. Wintle, `Fragments of Fern Fronds,' p. 39:

«Where the feet of the mountains are bathed by cool fountains,

The green, drooping fern trees are seen.»

1878. William Sharp, `Australian Ballads,' `Canterbury Poets' (Scott, 1888), pp. 180-81:

«The feathery fern-trees make a screen, Where through the sun-glare cannot pass – – Fern, gum, and lofty sassafras.»

«Under a feathery fern-tree bough

A huge iguana lies alow.»

1884. R. L. A. Davies, `Poems and Literary Remains,' p. 83:

«There were mossy fern-trees near me,

With their graceful feathered fronds,

Which they slowly waved above me,

Like hoar magicians' wands.»

1893. A.R. Wallace, `Australasia,' vol. i. p. 53:

«Here are graceful palms rising to 70 or even 100 feet; theIndian fig with its tortuous branches clothed with a draperyof curious parasites; while graceful tree ferns, 30 feet high,flourish in the damp atmosphere of the sheltered dells.»

Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris

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