Tree fern
Dicksonia antarctica
Also called Soft tree fern and Dicksonia
Garden plant · Ferns & palmsThe trunk is a mass of old roots, not wood, and it drinks — water INTO the crown and down the trunk in summer, not just at the base. It adds about an inch of trunk a year, so the one you buy is roughly the one you keep.
Care at a glance
- Ease
- Medium
- Water
- Every 4 daysKeep it moist — water at the first hint of dryness — don't wait for a dry pot.
- Light
- Full or partial shade, sheltered from wind
- Feed
- Every 30 days
- Humidity
- High
- Hardiness
- Half-hardy — a light frost RHS H3, to -5°C
- Size
- 2.5 m tall · 3 m across
- Lifecycle
- Perennial
- Origin
- Southeast Australia and Tasmania
Is it safe for pets and people?
PetsNothing recorded against it
No animal-poison authority lists this plant either way.
PeopleNot checked yet
Nobody has checked this one against a source for us yet, so treat it as unknown rather than safe.
Checked against ASPCA and RHS on 2026-08-05. Where a source says nothing, we say nothing.
A guide, not veterinary or medical advice. If a pet or a person has eaten a plant and you are worried, call your vet or doctor now — don’t wait for signs to appear. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
First signs of trouble
- New fronds unroll short and stop halfway, or brown before they open — the soil was watered and the trunk was not.Dry crown · disorder
- In March the whole head is brown and the growing point in the centre is soft and dark. Straw in the crown from November prevents it; nothing reverses it.Frost in the crown · disorder