TREEFERNS DOWN UNDER is a site devoted to the numerous treefern species (mainly Cyathea and Dicksonia) of Australia, New Zealand and neighbouring regions.

Cyathea australis (Australia) Cyathea australis subsp. norfolkensis (Norfolk Is) Cyathea brownii (Norfolk Is) Cyathea celebica (Australia, Malaysia) Cyathea cooperi (Australia) Cyathea cunninghamii (Australia & New Zealand) Cyathea dealbata (New Zealand) Cyathea howeana (Lord Howe Is) Cyathea kermadacensis (Kermadec Islands) Cyathea leichhardtiana (Australia) Cyathea macarthuri (Lord Howe Is) Cyathea X marcescens (Australia) Cyathea medullaris (Australia, Pacific) Cyathea rebeccae (Australia, Malaysia) Cyathea robertsiana (Australia) Cyathea robusta (Lord Howe Is) Cyathea smithii (New Zealand) Cyathea woollsiana (Australia) Dicksonia antarctica (Australia) Dicksonia fibrosa (New Zealand) Dicksonia herbertii (Australia) Dicksonia lanata (New Zealand) Dicksonia squarrosa (New Zealand) Dicksonia youngiae (Australia) Leptopteris fraseri (Australia)

PLUS a few other pages of non-Australasian treeferns: Cibotium glaucum (Hawaii) Cibotium schiedei (Mexico) Cyathea lunulata? (Pacific) Cyathea manniana? (Africa) Cyathea tomentosissima? (New Guinea) Dicksonia baudouini (Pacific) Dicksonia thyrsopteroides (Pacific) Dicksonia sp.A (??)

PLUS pages of each of the magnified treefern sori scans I've none so far for those that might like to compare the differences without having to skip back and forth.            CYATHEA            DICKSONIA

PLUS pictures of my fernery with links to other pages about the ferns and other plants I am growing, and techniques for propagating ferns from spore.

.... last updated - May 2003 (see bottom of page)

Complete list of all species of Cyathea referred to in this site, including names which are no longer current, and regions where each is found.

* ASIA * MALAYSIA * PACIFIC * AFRICA * JAMAICA

DISTRIBUTION DATA - Listing of all species of Cyathea in each region and details of countries or island groups where each species is found.

KEYS - keys to the subdivision of the genus Cyathea in each region, followed by the keys to the species (where needed) in each country or island group in the region. (While there are probably more easily observed features to distinguish many species in the field - the need in many cases to examine specimens with a microscope is limiting, although Pocket Microscopes are available - hopefully these keys may be better than nothing for any treefern enthusiasts visiting these regions!) With some 83 species of Cyathea in New Guinea, rather than attempting to produce a key for these, the following web site may prove useful (for many other fern genera as well)    <www.anbg.gov.au/projects/fern/taxa>

* ASIA * MALAYSIA * PACIFIC

* DICKSONIACEAE OF MALAYSIA - distribution & keys

Information contained in the above pages has been summarised from the following book                     and papers by Dr. R. E. Holttum: 'Flora Malesiana' Series II - Pteridophyta Volume 1, part 2, December 1963 (Cyatheaceae)                             (Noordhoff International Publishing, P.O. Box 26, Leyden, The Netherlands) 'Tree-Ferns of the genus Cyathea Sm. in Asia (excluding Malaysia)'  KEW BULLETIN Vol. 19 'The Tree-Ferns of the genus Cyathea in Australasia and the Pacific'  BLUMEA - Vol.XII, No. 2, 1964 'The Tree-Ferns of Africa' , 1963 Contact me, Rod Hill, of Frankston (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) at <cyathea_australis@hotmail.com>

Some links to other TREEFERN sites: ** Art Smith's 'Treeferns in Hawaii'  <www1.interpac.net/~artsmith/treeferns> (no longer on line?) ** Keith Rogers' Fern Page (South Australia) <www.lm.net.au/~kerogers> ** Cold Hardy Treeferns (USA) <www.angelfire.com/bc/eucalyptus/treeferns/> ** Flora of Costa Rica <www.mobot.org/manual.plantas/lista.html> .... scroll down to 'Pteridophyta' for lists of treefern species under Cyatheaceae & Dicksoniaceae (& Lophosoriaceae) ** Flora of Reunion <www.liledelareunion.com/Fr/Flore/c.htm> lists 3 treeferns (Cyathea's) for the island with photos of C. glauca ** Australian National Botanic Gardens Website has a couple of sections relating to treeferns, including           <www.anbg.gov.au/projects/fern/epfoa/island_ferns.xml> with keys to the ferns of Australia's off-shore islands, including the 6 treeferns of Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands           <www.anbg.gov.au/projects/fern/images> with photographs of numerous Australian native ferns, including some of treeferns (even though some are incorrectly named .... far be it for me to correct the ANBG but C. cunninghamii is not recorded from Carnarvon Gorge (these are almost certainly C. cooperi) and C. brownii is not found at Minnamurra Falls on the mainland (again possibly C. cooperi)

You might like to check out my other Web site??

Victorian Gay & Lesbian Youth Resource Directory

I have briefly described here some of my favourite places, mainly in Victoria (Australia), where treeferns can be seen growing, either in cultivation or in the wild. In time I hope to add more extensive treefern lists and photos to these pages.

A fond farewell to all who have made use of this web site over the past couple of years. Unfortunately I have recently been diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma (cancer of the lung lining) and in the last couple of weeks this has become quite aggressive. With only days left now, the updates I am making to the site today will be the last. My thanks to all those who have sent E-mails congratulating me on my site ... it has given me a lot of pleasure working on it and communicating with other treefern lovers.