Ferns

​Ferns are one of the oldest types of land plant and their remains are found throughout the fossil record from as far back as 390 million years ago. In the Triassic at Knocklofty, bracken-like Cladophlebis grew alongside horsetails and seed ferns. Lune River’s Jurassic fossils are famous for beautifully preserved trunks of tree ferns; a wide variety of ferns from at least four different families have been identified here, suggesting a lush, green forest with a fern-filled undergrowth.  A similar environment is found in the Cretaceous with fern fossils  abundant in southern Victorian sites.  And, of course, ferns are still common today in Tasmania's wet forests.
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Left: fossil fern Cladophlebis from the Triassic, Tasmania (Z353, TMAG), Centre: fossil tree fern trunk, Jurassic, Lune River, Tasmania (Z2324b), Right: Modern tree ferns, Mt Field, Tasmania.