About Ferns and Cycads
Predictably moist humid rainforest habitat is conducive to ferns. Species range from tall tree ferns to inconspicuous maidenhairs. The wide range of species may be terrestrial or epiphytic. With the regions rainforest being oldest on the planet it is not surprising some species like Coral Fern (Lycopodium cernuum) King Fern (Angiopteris evecta) and Salaginella (Salaginella longipinna) are primitive plants linked to the Carboniferous period.
Cycads are a very primitive group of ligneous plants with a superficial resemblance to palms, although they are not related. Cycads are often described "living fossils" or "green Dinosaurs", being that the group reached its highest diversity in the Mesozoic era (about 200 million years ago). The group has been declining since without showing any appreciable changes in their form. Fossil cycads from the Paleozoic era (about 240 million years ago) have many characteristics of current cycads. During the Triassic and Jurassic periods cycads were abundantly distributed. Today they are very localized, occurring in tropical Australia, Africa and America. Species are also present in Polynesia and Japan. Cycads grow very slowly and possess remarkable longevity, some specimens living to over 1,000 years.
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| Salagenella (Salaginella longipinna) Primitive Plant |
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| Umbrella Fern (Sticherus flabellatus) |
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| Gristle Fern (Blechum cartilagineum) |
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| Coral Fern (Lycopodiella cernua) Primitive Plant |
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| Dicranopteris (Dicranopteris linearis) |
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| Coarse Climbing Fern (Lygodium reticulatum) |
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| Scaly Tree Fern (Cyathea cooperi) |
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| Rebecca's Tree Fern (Cyathea rebeccae) |
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| Basket Fern (Drynaria rigidula) |
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| Ribbon Fern (Ophioglossum pendulum) |
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| King Fern (Angiopteris evecta) Primitive Plant |
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| Dwarf Hare's Foot Fern (Humata repens) |
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| Birds Nest Fern (Asplenium nidus)
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