Dicksonia antarctica Labill.

Trunk 1–15 m tall, sometimes massive, brown, densely covered in matted brown aerial roots; stipe bases persistent towards the crown; base of stipes and trunk apex densely covered with glossy ginger-brown hairs to 4.5 cm long. Fronds numerous in a large spreading crown. Stipe to 30 cm long, stout, smooth or slightly verrucose, hairy. Lamina 3-pinnate, oblong-lanceolate, 2–4 m long, dark green and shiny above, paler beneath, coriaceous, somewhat harsh; central pinnae longest, c. 30–40 cm long, reduced to each end; basal pinnae c. 10 cm long; ultimate segments decurrent along rachis; lobes of fertile pinnae cut to c. half-way to the midrib; rachis pale, hairy. Sori 0.8–1.3 mm diam., solitary on each lobe.

Damp sheltered woodland slopes and moist gullies. Common in high rainfall forests from sea-level to 1000 m; often dominates wet, shady gullies and frequently grows in extensive stands.

The pith from the centre of the trunk is eaten. It is rich in starch. The young unrolled fiddle heads or young leaf tips can be cooked and eaten.

Plants can be grown from spores. Plants are also grown from the tops of older plants.