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iNaturalist – uses and community
Coming events:
Upper Hunter Field Day 22nd November 2025
Grassroots Botany for Herbalists 2nd November 2025
National Bushfoods Conference, 8th-9th November
Feature:
Quiet Giants: Rough Tree Fern in Art and Story
Reports:
Yarning garden project, August update
Opening of new visitor’s centre, Girraween National Park
Wattle Workshop in Granite Belt
Excerpt
Quiet Giants: Rough Tree Fern in Art and Story
By Renata Buziak
Exploring the Gondwanan lineage and healing qualities of Cyathea australis through biochrome art, cultural knowledge, and exhibitions.
The Rough Tree Fern (Cyathea australis) is one of Australia’s quiet giants. Reaching up to 15 metres, it is a majestic presence in our forests—rooted not only in the landscape, but also in deep time and cultural knowledge. As a species with a lineage stretching back to Gondwana, it invites us to see plants as time travellers across evolutionary time.
Palaeobotanist Dr Ray Carpenter explains, “Spores similar to those of living tree ferns are common fossils and date back to at least 150 million years.” His insight underscores how the fern’s lineage connects us to ancient forests and the long continuity of life.
I first encountered the Rough Tree Fern a few years after arriving in Australia, and its presence struck me with awe. My deeper connection came during artist residencies at Bilpin NSW and later at Binna Burra Qld, in the heart of the Gondwanan rainforest.
Guided by Dr Carpenter, I learned that tree ferns are not relics of the past, but members of lineages that continue to evolve and thrive today. That knowledge profoundly shaped my art and my way of seeing nature….
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