ftener heard than seen. It frequents
the dense fern of the open country and the beds of Raupo."

<hw>Fern-tree</hw>, <i>n.</i> Name applied to various
species of ferns which grow to a large size, the stem in the
fully grown plant reaching often a height of many feet before
the leaves are given off. Such Tree-ferns clothe the sides of
deep and shady gullies amongst the hills, and give rise to what
are known as Fern-tree gullies, which form a very
characteristic feature of the moister coastal Ranges of many
parts of Australia. The principal <i>Fern-trees</i> or
<i>Tree-ferns</i>, as they are indiscriminately called, of
Australia and Tasmania are--

<i>Dicksonia antarctica</i>, Lab.;
<i>Alsophila australis</i>, R. Br.;
<i>Todea africana</i>, Willd.;
<i>Cyathea cunninghami</i>, J. Hook.;
<i>Alsophila excelsa</i>, 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 concealed
the heavens from view, spreading like a plantation or cocoa-nut
tree 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. 45
degrees), and I measured one trunk no less than six feet in
circumference. An arborescent fern was found by Forster in New
Zealand in 46 degrees, where orchideous plants are parasitical
on the trees. In the Auckland Islands, ferns, according to
Dr. Dieffenbach, have trunks so thick and high that they may be
almost 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 the
core or pith of the fern trees, <i>Cibotium Bollardieri</i>
and <i>Alsophila Australis</i> (of which the former is rather
astringent and dry for a European palate, and the latter,
though more tolerable, is yet scarcely equal to a Swedish
turnip.)"

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