Dicksonia is a genus of tree ferns in the order Cyatheales. It is regarded as related to Cyathea, but is considered to retain more primitive traits, dating back at least to the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossil record includes stems, pinnules, and spores.

Dicksonia
Dicksonia antarctica
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Polypodiophyta
Class: Polypodiopsida
Order: Cyatheales
Family: Dicksoniaceae
Genus: Dicksonia
L'Hér.
Type species
Dicksonia arborescens
Species

See text.

Synonyms
  • Balantium Kaulfuss

The genus contains 20–25 species, distributed from Mexico to Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Chile, St. Helena, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Australia, Indonesia, New Guinea, and the Philippines. New Guinea has the greatest diversity, with five species.

Species of Dicksonia found in cultivation include:

  • D. antarctica, soft tree fern[1]
  • D. fibrosa, woolly tree fern
  • D. squarrosa, rough or slender tree fern

The genus was first described by Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle in 1788. The name honors James Dickson, a prominent nurseryman and botanist.[1]

Species

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Plants of the World Online as of As of January 2023 recognizes the following species:[2]

Image Scientific name Distribution
Dicksonia amorosoana Lehnert & Coritico Philippines (Mindanao)
  Dicksonia antarctica Labill., soft tree fern, Tasmanian tree fern Australia
  Dicksonia arborescens L'Hér. St. Helena
Dicksonia archboldii Copel. New Guinea
Dicksonia baudouinii E.Fourn. New Caledonia
Dicksonia berteroana (Colla) Hook. Juan Fernández Islands
  Dicksonia blumei (Kunze) T.Moore Indonesia, Philippines
Dicksonia brackenridgei Mett. Fiji, Samoa
Dicksonia celebica Lehnert Sulawesi.
Dicksonia ceramica Lehnert Maluku (Seram)
  Dicksonia externa Skottsb. Juan Fernández Islands
  Dicksonia fibrosa Colenso, woolly tree fern, kuripaka or wheki-ponga New Zealand
  Dicksonia grandis Rosenst. New Guinea
Dicksonia herbertii W.Hill Northeastern Queensland, Australia
Dicksonia hieronymi Brause New Guinea
Dicksonia karsteniana (Klotzsch) T.Moore Mexico to Venezuela and Bolivia
Dicksonia lanata Colenso Tuokuro. New Zealand
Dicksonia lanigera Holttum New Guinea
Dicksonia lehnertiana Noben, F.Giraldo, W.D.Rodr. & A.Tejedor Colombia
Dicksonia mollis Holttum Indonesia
Dicksonia munzingeri Noben & Lehnert Solomon Islands to New Caledonia.
Dicksonia perriei Noben & Lehnert New Caledonia
Dicksonia sciurus C.Chr. New Guinea
  Dicksonia sellowiana (C.Presl) Hook., xaxim, samambaiuçu (in Portuguese) Southern Mexico through Central America and Northern South America to Bolivia and Uruguay
  Dicksonia squarrosa (G.Forst.) Sw., rough tree fern, slender tree fern, New Zealand tree fern, wheki New Zealand
Dicksonia stuebelii Hieron. Northern Peru
  Dicksonia thyrsopteroides Mett. New Caledonia
Dicksonia timorensis Adjie Lesser Sunda Islands (Timor)
Dicksonia utteridgei Lehnert & Cámara-Leret New Guinea
  Dicksonia youngiae C.Moore ex Baker, bristly tree fern Australia

Phylogeny

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Phylogeny of Dicksonia[3][4]

D. squarrosa (Forster 1786) Swartz (New Zealand tree fern)

D. baudouinii Fournier

D. lanata Colenso (stumpy tree fern)

D. brackenridgei Mettenius

D. perriei Noben & Lehnert

D. munzingeri Noben & Lehnert

D. thyrsopteroides Mettenius

D. timorensis Adjie

D. antarctica de Labillardière (Australian soft tree fern)

D. fibrosa Colenso (golden tree fern)

D. stuebelii Hieronymus

D. karsteniana (Klotzsch 1847) Moore

D. navarrensis Christ

D. sellowiana (Presl 1836) Hooker (xaxim)

D. berteroana (Colla 1836) Hooker

D. arborescens L’Héritier de Brutelle (Saint Helena tree fern)

D. blumei (Kunze 1848) Moore

D. herbertii Hill

D. youngiae Moore ex Baker (Bristly tree fern)

D. mollis Holttum

D. hieronymi Brause

D. lanigera Holttum

D. grandis Rosenstock

D. archboldii Copeland

D. sciurus Christensen

Other species include:

References

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  1. ^ a b Dicksonia antarctica – the soft tree fern. Australian National Botanic Gardens. 2008
  2. ^ "Dicksonia - Plants of the World Online". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2023-01-05.
  3. ^ Nitta, Joel H.; Schuettpelz, Eric; Ramírez-Barahona, Santiago; Iwasaki, Wataru; et al. (2022). "An Open and Continuously Updated Fern Tree of Life". Frontiers in Plant Science. 13: 909768. doi:10.3389/fpls.2022.909768. PMC 9449725. PMID 36092417.
  4. ^ "Tree viewer: interactive visualization of FTOL". FTOL v1.5.0 [GenBank release 256]. 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  • Large, M.F. and J.E. Braggins Tree Ferns. Timber Press, Inc. (2004).
  • Lobin, Wolfram. List of the American Dicksonia Species. Scientific Authority of Germany, Bonn 2001.
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