Fern Tree Leaves Stock Photo

The tree ferns are the ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level. Most tree ferns are members of the `core tree ferns`, belonging to the families Dicksoniaceae, Metaxyaceae, and Cibotiaceae in the order Cyatheales. This order is the third group of ferns known to have given rise to tree-like forms. The two others are the Marattiales, a eusporangiate order that the extinct Psaronius evolved from, and the order Polypodiales where the extinct genus Tempskya belongs.